Today, more and more communication networks – internet, telephone, or media – are converting their cables into fiber optic networks. The flurry of activity has prompted a lot of debate between the two technologies – which is better?

Before looking at the features of cables versus fiber optics, it is good to have a basic understanding of them. Basically, conventional cables are wires made of copper while fiber optic cables are made of very thin strands (like fiber) of glass. The main feature of fiber optics is the ability to transfer digital information in large amounts at light’s speed and with practically no interference.

With this groundbreaking ability, you might be wondering why all the debate then. The answer lies in cost. In general, copper cables are much less expensive than fiber optics although cables that offer greater speed can get expensive too. However, as industry decision makers know, the cost is just one of the aspects to consider in deciding which type of network is better.

Performance-wise, fiber optics wins the debate hands down. Let us take a further look at what makes fiber optic networks better than conventional copper cable networks. As mentioned above, there is virtually no interference in data transmission over fiber optics since it is made of glass, which is not an electric conductor.

Therefore, fiber optics is more reliable than copper cable because it cannot be affected by elements like lightning, power lines or any other high-voltage equipment. In addition, its core of glass is not corrosive and is resistant to most types of chemicals. Fiber optics can be placed either directly underground or exposed to the atmosphere. External conditions have no effect on fiber optics and it can come into direct contact with telephone poles or other electrical wirings existing in the area without it picking up other signals.

Additionally, fiber optic networks offer a higher transfer rate of data over longer or broader distances than conventional cable networks so they are ideal to use when it comes to digital data transmission, particularly video data. Although monitoring a fiber optic network is very easy, the great difficulty of tapping it makes it highly recommended for communication networks where security is critical.

An obvious benefit of fiber optics to an average internet user is much faster downloads of documents, music, videos, movies or any type of file at a speed that is far greater than that of today’s fastest cable, DSL or broadband service – a hundred times faster, according to estimates of industry experts. At this speed, you can click from one web page to another in a blink of an eye or even watch movies in high definition in your computer.

Going back to the subject of cost, since this is the generally-assumed major drawback of fiber optics, there are instances where converting copper cables to fiber optics is more economical. For instance, in industrial settings where electromagnetic interferences are typical, it becomes necessary to use a conduit in order to run copper cables or else there would be major interference issues. These issues are non-existent in fiber optic networks and the conversion would actually be less expensive than the copper-in-conduit option.

In the case of telecommunications companies, they have decided to create a fiber optic network connecting head offices with long-distance centers that enabled them to obtain significantly greater bandwidth and increase the distance reached by their signals. Cable TV companies are also converting to fiber optic cables to take advantage of the benefits of this technology, particularly its reliability that has allowed them to expand their business and provide new types of services such as Internet access and phone services.

These companies chose fiber optics over cables despite having to invest heavily because they saw it was smarter for business. It is expected that in the near future more local and international companies and industries would make the same realization.