[TriLUG] OT: URGENT: H.129 to be heard in Thursday's Finance Committee!

[Mark Turner]

On 03/15/2011 02:19 PM, Chris Merrill wrote:
> On 3/15/2011 1:47 PM, Mark Turner wrote:
>> Chris, in the cases of Wilson and Salisbury, the networks that were built are 100% fiber optic. For
>> all practical purposes, the capacity of fiber optics is unlimited. These systems could easily serve
>> citizens for over 100 years. They will certainly outlast the roads they're next to.
>
> Maybe, maybe not.  It's hard to tell where technology will take us next.

 From Wikipedia:

" WDM systems are popular with telecommunications companies because they 
allow them to expand the capacity of the network without laying more 
fiber. By using WDM and optical amplifiers, they can accommodate several 
generations of technology development in their optical infrastructure 
without having to overhaul the backbone network. Capacity of a given 
link can be expanded by simply upgrading the multiplexers and 
demultiplexers at each end."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength-division_multiplexing

"... Engineers are always looking at current limitations in order to 
improve fiber-optic communication, and several of these restrictions are 
currently being researched. For instance, NTT was able to achieve 69.1 
Tbit/s transmission by applying wavelength division multiplex (WDM) of 
432 wavelengths with a capacity of 171 Gbit/s over a single 240 km-long 
optical fiber on March 25, 2010. This has been the highest optical 
transmission speed ever recorded."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-optic_communication
http://www.ntt.co.jp/news2010/1003e/100325a.html

Ok ... so we're up to *just 69.1 Tbit/s* on one fiber. It's not 
*technically* unlimited, it is ... um, unlimited for all practical 
purposes. Also, speeds reportedly double every six months, so there's a 
good chance fiber speeds will keep pace with YouTube. :)

I think this is why the copper providers are upset with the new city 
providers: once that fiber is in the ground it might stay there forever.

Mark