In many ways, the last 30 years have seen more technological advancements than the 300 years preceding them. From artificial intelligence to billions of smartphones, all with access to endless amounts of information, today is extensively (at times even overwhelmingly) connected. But while that connection may often feel ubiquitous, much of the world still lacks access to it — and moreover the resources and opportunities it can present.
Fiber optical networks make up the backbone of how the world today is connected. The technology is generally considered more robust, reliable and capable of superior capacity compared to most other forms of connection.
In fact, with one fiber pair (which is thinner than a single human hair), half of the human population could communicate with the other half, simultaneously.
Yet, despite how much we currently rely on fiber networks, for most people, the technology and its history is still not common knowledge.
Fiber foretime, fiber future
In the early days of fiber optic development, the technology faced limitations from impurities in the glass fibers — which hindered effective transmission and caused the signal to get weaker as it traveled (known as attenuation). But in 1970, three researchers at Corning Glass Works were able to successfully develop pure, low-loss fibers — setting the stage for a new era in optical communication. By 1983, New York City and Washington DC became the first major cities in the world to be connected by a long-distance fiber link.
In the late 1990s, a telecom boom saw to a spending uptick and demand in fiber infrastructure as providers pursued faster voice and data transmissions. But that dream began to dwindle when the dotcom bubble burst and the amount of deployed fiber far exceeded that of its demand.
Still, the debut decade of the 2000s also introduced the smartphone and an explosion of public internet use. As this infrastructure became deeply ingrained in people’s day-to-day lives, the underlying uses of broadband networks greatly expanded, subsequently expanding demands on its capacity and speeds.
This was further exacerbated when — on the heels of the commercial deployment of 5G networks — the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Communication across classrooms, workplaces and even families moved online, further catalyzing an already growing reality: broadband connection was moving from a comfort to a necessity.
This need has reforged a fiber demand — one that is entrenched deeper than just the interests of the the private telecom sector, now drawing support from government bodies to develop digital accessibility for everyone.
Funding the fiber build
Last year, US fiber connections became a glass-half-full-half-empty story when it was reported that 51.5% of US homes are passed with fiber.
But in tackling the latter half, there are two main challenges: it can be expensive to install it, and it can be expensive for households to afford it.
This is in large part why, in 2021, the Biden Administration passed the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program — which includes over $42 billion in funding for the deployment of broadband infrastructure, primarily in under- and unconnected communities.
And in efforts to bridge the cost of adoption for households, part of the program also requires that state and local entities receiving these grants provide low-cost broadband service options for low-income and middle-class households that qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
Broadband access is now a matter of equity, as it implies access to education, health care, employment opportunities and more. Alongside other supporting technologies, fiber will continue to be at the forefront of closing the digital divide.