Inside the rising demand for optical fiber

In modern networks, coaxial (copper) has traditionally been the predominant transfer medium due to the lower costs and ease of integration. The emergence of newer and more sophisticated IT applications, however, necessitates greater investment in developing fiber infrastructures. Every advantage that fiber offers is essential to tackling the new challenges that these applications present, as we move into the age of hyperscaling data centers.

Increased industry spending

The data center industry has responded to these growing demands with a huge upswing in fiber investment. In the past year alone, spending on fiber has far exceeded the original projections by industry experts. Fiber producer Corning reports that fiber sales have exceeded quarterly sales expectations by around $200 million due to higher-than-expected demand for data centers running AI applications. Corning reports that Nvidia Blackwell platform for AI requires around 576 fibers, which is 18x as many fibers as a standard rack.

Service providers such as T-Mobile have also greatly ramped up investment in expanding their fiber footprint. T-Mobile will invest over $950 million dollars in the next few years to acquire fiber network operators. This investment will allow the service provider to expand fiber coverage from 320,000 homes today to around 3.5 million homes by 2028. Likewise, AT&T has announced that it will spend an additional 3 billion on broadband connectivity, much of which will be allocated to fiber, by 2030 to expand its fiber coverage and help connect 25 million people to its network.

Data center optimization

This upswing in fiber investment has come at an opportune time. Fiber upgrades not only contribute greatly to established industries such as cloud computing, but the technology also taps into the potential of rapidly rising markets. The data center industry is at a juncture in which multiple industries such as Generative AI and Quantum computing are beginning to emerge as key contributors to the IT landscape.

Generative AI, which has already garnered the most attention in the public eye, has exploded in popularity over the past few years and looks headed to be a near ubiquitous addition to applications for the general audience to utilize going forward. In contrast, Quantum computing is relatively in its infancy but has incredible potential to solve complex problems with much greater efficiency than ever before.

As these industries continue to mature, the widescale adoption of fiber seems less a matter of if, but more a matter of when. Businesses that have moved first to adapt to these growing demands and invested in the fiber domain early, as is the case with many of the “AI enablers” in the current market, have already starting to see their investments pay dividends. Increasing fiber investment and will continue to help businesses futureproof data centers to handle next generation applications.

Advantages of fiber

Fiber offers several distinct advantages over traditional copper. One of the major advantages is the transmission speed. In fiber networks, data travels in the form of light pulses through plastic or glass fiber. Because light travels much faster than the electrical pulses used in copper, fiber networks are able to transfer data back and forth between two different points in a network, with greater efficiency than standard coaxial.

Fiber also offers higher theoretical bandwidth as it can transfer more data at once. Fiber networks are able to leverage DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology, which allows multiple light signals (data) to be sent simultaneously. This means that fiber can transfer more data at once even with a slightly smaller diameter than copper cables. Furthermore, fiber networks can utilize fiber equipment technology that allows for symmetrical download/upload speeds, ensuring that the network connection is more fluid and efficient.

In contrast to copper, fiber is also a more ideal transfer medium for long range/long haul networks. This is because fiber has greater resistance to electromagnetic interference, making it more immune to exterior environmental factors. This allows the light signal to propagate further and travel much longer distances without weakening the signal strength, and this added durability minimizes network downtime. With these characteristics along with its compact sizing, fiber can be utilized in networks with reach distances up to 100x greater than copper, making it a much more versatile deployment in modern networks.

Fiber for next generation applications

The benefits of fiber are immediately applicable to advancing data center requirements in the aforementioned industries:

With fiber implementations, cloud providers/data center operators can optimize network paths in cloud/hybrid cloud systems, to provide more responsive and efficient data services for end users.

For Quantum computing, fiber optics are able to deliver more Qubits (Quantum bits) at once, which allows Quantum computers to process more information, faster.

Generative AI models involve carrying out multiple complex calculations in ML (Machine Learning) workloads and transferring massive amounts of data via Infiniband or Ethernet. Fiber optics heavily optimizes Infiniband or Ethernet connections, enabling real-time AI with much greater efficiency.

The road to fiber adoption with Axiom

As a leader in network solutions, Axiom has evolved from a leading memory solution provider into an end-to-end solutions provider for all things network related. Axiom fiber solutions perform at OEM standards or greater without upcharging for brand name alone. With the demand for fiber investment on an upwards trajectory, precise budgeting has never been more important to keep costs in check and eliminate wasteful spending. Axiom fiber solutions adhere to this principle and enable your business to spend more effectively. Futureproof your networks with Axiom's full portfolio of fiber solutions.

Axiom is one of the leading providers of fiber optics, with a portfolio that features:

Optical transceivers

1G-800GSFP/SFP+/QSFP+/OSFP/QSFP-DD transceivers and more

Fiber optic cables

Single Mode/Multi Mode, DAC cables, multiple connector types, and more

Fiber equipment

PON/FTTX/FTTP, passives, actives, splitters, Mux/Demux, and more

Contact the Axiom team today to learn more about our fiber solutions.