A fibre optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the structure of light signals. The structure of an optical fibre cable is displayed in the figure. It involves an inner glass core surrounded by a glass cladding that reflects the light into the core. Each fibre is encircled by a plastic jacket.

Advantages of the fibre optic cable

• Small Size and lightweight − The size (diameter) of the optical fibres is minimal (comparable to the diameter of a human hair).
• Easily available and low cost − The material used for producing the optical fibres is silica glass. This material is readily applicable. Therefore, the optical fibres cost lower than the cables with metallic conductors.
• No electrical or electromagnetic interface − Since the transmission occurs in light rays, the signal is not affected by electrical or electromagnetic interference.
• Large Bandwidth − As the light arrays have a very high frequency in the GHz range, the optical fibre bandwidth is vast. This allows the transmission of more numbers of channels. Therefore, the information-carrying capacity of an optical fibre is much higher than that of a Co-axial cable.

Disadvantages of the fibre optic cable

• High Cost − The cable and the interfaces are associatively more expensive than those of other guided media.
• Unidirectional light propagation − Since the optical transmission is inherently unidirectional two-way communication requires either two fibres or two frequency bands on one fibre.
• Installation and Maintenance − Fibre is different technology requiring skills; most engineers do not occupy.