Fibre optics communication network has been dubbed ‘future proof' because of the high bandwidth and superior features that it offers. The fibre connection does not only deliver high speed internet but also other features like HDTV, video on demand (VoD), telephonic lines, online gaming, and much more within the single fibre connection. More and more households are being connected to the FTTH (fibre to the home) network and enjoying luxuries data rates up to 1 Gigabits per second. However, do we really need such high data rates?
Perhaps not now, we don't. However, the future does bring us more and more interaction with each other and with the world. For the speculated increase in interaction, we must compensate with technologies that would be able to support that heavy communication network. For this reason, many governments and organisations are rapidly replacing the outdated copper wire and cable systems and replacing them with optical fibre. Optical fibre does not only cope with our current demand of data rate but also offers easy upgrades and virtually unlimited bandwidth to support any communication load in the foreseeable future.
But where would this extreme load come from? Simply from us. Consider how a decade ago, YouTube was no phenomenon, a handful few exchanged videos and pictures via internet and most people relied on CDs, DVDs, and other writable media. Then a silent revolution took place and now most of our data is shared through the internet as we continuously interact with each other. Video quality has been upgraded severely, file sizes have been increased, and today we do most of our tasks over the internet.
We can order food, groceries, go virtual shopping, pay bills, video call relatives and friends, play multiplayer games and do much more over the internet. We are constantly in need of communication. In the foreseeable future, this interaction would not be limited to just other people but also with our machinery. Your fridge would tell you how many eggs you have left, your TV would remind you or alert you about your favourite TV shows. You would be able to switch off any forgotten lights from halfway across the globe. You could switch on the AC while on your way back home to be met by a hospitable and welcoming cool room. Smart grids, intelligent transportation systems, and other interactive systems would constantly need to send and receive large amounts of data to keep you updated about all the important stuff. All this communication would definitely put a load on the network. This load can be supported by optical fibre systems which would offer reliable and secure high bandwidth connections.
