Four Fiber Facts | The Glass Age | Innovation | Corning.com

Science of Glass

Science of Glass

Science of Glass

Four Fiber Facts

Four Fiber Facts

Optical fiber is an ultra-thin, extremely flexible thread of glass that enables us to transmit information at high speeds across the room or across the world. Corning invented the first commercially viable low-loss optical fiber in 1970, and this glass technology has continued to improve in order to meet the growing bandwidth demands of today’s always-on world.

But why does glass optical fiber matter for today’s telecommunications networks? Here are four facts that answer this question.

Fiber is fast

When it comes to bandwidth, fiber is king. It can transmit more than 10 terabits of data per second over a distance of 10,000 kilometers. What does that mean? It would take approximately 25 seconds to send the entire Library of Congress from San Francisco to Tokyo.

Fiber bends

While the glass we use every day seems inflexible, Corning’s revolutionary single-mode and multimode optical fiber is flexible enough to bend around tight corners, twist into hard-to-reach places and loop within smaller terminal boxes without sacrificing performance.

Fiber is strong

Compared to other materials, optical fiber is incredibly durable and tough. For example, optical fiber is three times stronger than high-tensile steel and is six times strong than titanium.

Fiber is more secure

Unlike copper wires, it is very difficult to tap or bug optical fiber. It is easy to spot when someone attempts to tap into a fiber cable because maintenance systems can detect a loss in optical signals being transmitted.

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