Fibre-optic connectivity has been around for a while. But for one reason or another, it hasn’t made it into all of our homes yet, partly because of the difficulty in laying new cables and the fact that when the original broadband network was installed, nobody foresaw just how quickly demand for bandwidth would grow over the following decade.
Businesses, in particular, stand to benefit massively from getting fibre. Here’s how.
Support For HD Video
Many companies are now investing in new working models, particularly the ability for people to work from home, no matter where they are. As a result, businesses themselves need to have a good internet connection that can cope with multiple HD feeds. Only fibre-optic, with its large carrying capacity, can accommodate all of those feeds simultaneously, so it’s essential for businesses with highly distributed workforces.
Reduced Cost
Fibre-optic internet connections might seem more costly than regular connections, but they are actually cheaper for businesses, for a number of reasons. For one, according to firms like Complete Connect Ltd, they’re easy to install and can be set up quickly. And second, they increase the productivity of your workers thanks to the fact that they don’t have to constantly wait for pages to load before they can do their job. Often, these small delays can result in thousands of pounds of wasted wages over the course of a year, more than paying for the cost of the new connection.
Resistant To Interference
Traditional copper wires carrying internet data are prone to interference from heavy machinery. The cool thing about fibre-optic cabling is that it is not, meaning that you won’t get random signal degradations after switching on certain nearby machines.
Lower Latency
Another common problem for businesses is high latency. There’s nothing worse than trying to host a video conference and for the person on the other end to have to wait several seconds for your message to get through. It completely breaks up the flow of the conversation and usually means people have to resort to regular phone calls.
Latency is also a massive issue when trying to upload or download video and high-definition content. Lowering your latency could mean better call quality for VoIP users, better employee collaboration and the ability to upload files without disrupting the network.
Higher Bandwidth
In the UK, it’s actually very easy for companies to hit their so-called “bandwidth cap” – the amount of data that is allowed to flow through their connection at any given time. For traditional systems, this bandwidth can be as low as 12 Mbps. With new, fibre optic systems, this increases dramatically to more than 100 Mbps. This again helps with things like Software-as-a-service applications (SaaS), as well as high-definition video streaming, file sharing and web conferencing.
Better Signal Strength
The final benefit of fibre optic for businesses is the fact that it affords them better signal strength. Traditional broadband internet that uses DSL or ethernet over copper wires degrades the further you are from the router. With fibre optic, there is practically no degradation in signal quality.
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