[LINK] Anticipated service life of fibre (was: Does NBN need a third satellite?)

[Karl Auer]

On Tue, 2016-04-05 at 09:53 +1000, Andy Farkas wrote:
> None of us can see into the future, but what would replace something
> that can go at the (constant) speed of light? The life of a fibre 
> cable is vastly longer than a century. They will probably only have 
> to replace broken/crushed cables.

Even glass is touched by time. Perhaps it will become slowly more
opaque, carry certain wavelengths better (or less well), become more
fragile, or deform (as old windows have flowed down so they are fatter
at the bottom). The outer shell is not glass, but generally some kid of
plastic. That is not immune to pest attack, or degradation through the
action of moisture or ultra-violet light.

However - fibre has some huge advantages over copper, and would be a no
-brainer *even if* it had the same lifespan as copper.

Regards, K.

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