Despite the modern world relying heavily on digital optical communication, there has not been a significant improvement in the minimum attenuation—a measure of the loss of optical power per kilometer traveled—of optical fibers in around 40 years. Decreasing this loss would mean that the signal could travel further without being amplified, leading to more data being transmitted over longer distances, faster internet and more efficient networks.

"researchers claim to have made a breakthrough in hollow-core fiber (HCF) design…

The new design maintains low losses of around 0.2 dB/km over a 66 THz bandwidth and boasts 45% faster transmission speeds."

  • visnae@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    The verge had a quite interesting article on that topic last year that i can recommend, called

    the cloud under the sea

    But basically it has started to shift from the telecom industry to content providers like Google, Meta, Microsoft. I.e from connecting cities to connecting data centres.