Fibre optic cable

How it is used

Used across data centres, campuses and operator networks. Fibre optic cables are laid, pulled, terminated, spliced and tested. In speech people mostly say 'fibre': 'Is the building on fibre yet?' A fibre cut during roadworks is one of the most common causes of operator outages.

Example sentences

1. A construction crew cut the fibre optic cable between the two sites this morning.

2. We'll run a fibre optic cable to the warehouse because it is 400 metres away.

Common collocations

• lay fibre optic cable
• fibre optic link
• fibre cut
• fibre connection
• terminate a fibre

Related terms

• single-mode fibreA type of optical fibre with a very thin core, about 9 micrometres across, that carries light along a single path and can send data over many kilometres; used by operators and between buildings.
• spliceTo join two optical fibres end to end so that light passes from one to the other with as little loss as possible, usually by melting them together with a fusion splicer.
• attenuationThe gradual loss of signal strength as a signal travels along a cable or through the air, measured in decibels (dB), often per kilometre for fibre.
• FTTHShort for fibre to the home: a broadband setup in which optical fibre runs all the way to the customer's home, instead of ending at a street cabinet and continuing over copper.
• transceiverA small plug-in module, such as an SFP, that both sends and receives signals, usually converting electrical signals in a switch or router into light for a fibre link.

More terms: Cabling and Fibre

• Ethernet
• patch panel
• patch cable