Telecommunications Essentials

Fiber

As you've read many times in this book, fiber is an area of rapid evolution. Few other media options promise to offer the capacities of fiber. Where its deployment is possible, fiber is the clear-cut best solution. Fiber can be used on its own or in conjunction with twisted-pair, coax, and wireless to provide broadband access. FTTC is a solution in which fiber is run very close to the home—to the curb—and coax runs from the curb to the home. In addition, all-fiber networks can be used to deliver broadband services. Fiber to the home (FTTH) goes a step further than FTTC—it brings fiber into the residence. In addition, a new generation of technologies, called passive optical networks (PONs), promises to dramatically reduce the cost of deploying ...