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32 Chapter 2

expensive and the cost of fiber to the desk is going to be higher, the
need to rewire every time a new speed is achieved can be minimized.
Over the longer term, the use of fiber to the desk is likely a less
expensive solution. Unfortunately, local management does not see
this point yet. Therefore, buildings continue to be wired with copper
and rewired when speed increases are needed. Single-mode fiber to
the desk will support speeds of up to 10 Gbps today without any
wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Think of the possibilities
with WDM.
Figure 2-3 illustrates the growth in capacity of fiberoptics by
wavelength and the capacity potential for each of the standards-
based services.

What About the Local Carrier?

If, on the other hand, a telecommunications carrier decides to build
out infrastructure in the local community, the issue will be less com-
plex. Because carriers serve many more users and charge for the

Figure 2-3
Growth and 1000
capacities of
fiberoptics over
time (Lucent
100
Technologies) WDM Systems
Single fiber capacity in Gbps 10

1

1.3/ 1.5m 1.5m WDM
0.1 1.3m

0.8m Wavelength
0.01
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005