How Fiber Optic Cables Are Transforming the Internet

How Fiber Optic Cables Are Transforming the Internet

With 3.77 billion internet users around the world as of 2017, it’s no longer a question of having access to the internet, but of speed and bandwidth. From college students to large corporations, our reliance on the internet for information, workspace and entertainment is nearly complete. Internet services are essential tools for every business, and having a reliable, speedy connection can affect productivity and the bottom line. Fiber optic services are transforming the worlds of work and entertainment with high speeds and bandwidths.

A connected world
Over half of the world’s population is now connected to the internet. In the U.S. almost three people out of four have internet access, as of 2015. This percentage will increase over time. Fiber optic cables are the workhorses of the digital world, making internet connectivity on such a large scale possible.
Because of their speed and bandwidth, fiber optic cables are fast becoming the internet services of choice for many families. By 2016, 42 million Americans had fiber services at home. This number has doubled in just two years, since 2014.

What are fiber optic cables?
Fiber internet services have taken off only recently, though the principles underlying fiber optic cables have been known for over a hundred years. They are much faster than DSL or cable because they transmit data using light rather than electrical impulses.
This gives them the speed and bandwidth needed today for many different purposes. The cables themselves are made of strands of glass, and come in two different types, single mode and multi mode.

Data at the speed of light
For residential internet services, fiber optic cables are the gold standard. In fact, they actually perform even better than advertised. According to the FCC, they actually perform at speeds that are 117% higher peak times. This is much faster than DSL and cable.
For cloud computing, for gaming, for entertainment and many other applications, the speed and capacity of fiber optic internet is indispensable. A vast majority, or 82%, of businesses today use the cloud for their daily operations as well as for data storage. Fiber optic connectivity underlies the reliability of cloud computing.

Fiber optic internet services literally transmit data at the speed of light. They make it possible for large corporations and institutions like government agencies to rely on cloud computing for all their work and data storage needs. They also transform the worlds of gaming and entertainment, making all kinds of media and information widely available.