Fiber optics is a technology for communicating data via pulses of light. The light pulses are transmitted over a cable made of many optical fibers, which are thin strands of glass or plastic. Fiber optics provide greater transmission capacity than copper wire or radio waves.
TIME TO DOWNLOAD A TWO-HOUR DVD
• Dial-up modem: 20,000 minutes.
• Basic DSL (3 megabits per second): 267 minutes
• Higher-speed DSL (6 megabits per second): 133 minutes
• Optical fiber (100 megabits per second): 8 minutes.
Source: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation