Discuss fiber-optic cable, including its advantages and disadvantages.

What will be an ideal response?

Student responses will vary, but should be drawn from the following information from the text.

The core of a fiber-optic cable consists of dozens or hundreds of thin strands of glass or plastic that use light to transmit signals. Each strand, called an optical fiber, is as thin as a human hair. Inside the fiber-optic cable, an insulating glass cladding and a protective coating surround each optical fiber.

Fiber-optic cables have the following advantages over cables that use wire, such as twisted-pair and coaxial cables:

• Capability of carrying significantly more signals than wire cables
• Faster data transmission
• Less susceptible to noise (interference) from other devices, such as a copy machine
• Better security for signals during transmission because they are less susceptible to noise
• Smaller size (much thinner and lighter weight)

Disadvantages of fiber-optic cable are it costs more than twisted-pair or coaxial cable and can be difficult to install and modify. Despite these limitations, many phone companies replaced original analog phone lines with fiber-optic cables, enabling them to offer fiber Internet access to home and business users. Businesses also use fiber-optic cables in high-traffic networks or as the backbone in a network.