Fiber Broadband Association research explores scalability and longevity of fiber broadband

The Fiber Broadband Association announced on March 18 the publication of “Fiber Broadband Scalability and Longevity,” a white paper from FBA’s Technology Committee.

The white paper posits that optical fiber is the only communications medium that can support both existing and future applications with no infrastructure changes, and because of this, fiber broadband has no known expiration date.

The paper explores optical fiber’s mechanical lifetime, fiber cable’s lifetime, and how installation and operational practices can affect the cable’s lifespan. It also provides real-world examples of fiber optic cable installed decades ago that is still being used for high-speed communications.

As opposed to fixed wireless, DOCSIS, and DSL technologies, which require outdoor infrastructure upgrades to increase speeds and capacity, fiber broadband can support decades of speed and capacity increases with no outdoor infrastructure upgrades, according to the FBA.

John George, FBA Technical Committee Chair, said in a press release, “The broadband industry has studied the qualities and characteristics of deployment technologies for decades, and fiber continues to score highest in terms of scalability, reliability, experience, and more. Fiber is the trusted technology with no expiration date. Today, we are only using a fraction of fiber’s known available capacity. It is the only broadband technology that can be deployed today and support many decades of speed increases. So, an investment in fiber infrastructure is a durable investment in a better future.”

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