State the advantages of optical fiber cables on conventional electrical cables.

Advantages of optical fiber cables on conventional electrical cables.

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1. Large Potential bandwidth: As the optical carrier frequency is in
   the range of 1012 to 115 Hz it yields a far
   greater potential transmission bandwidth, than metallic cable
   systems. Therefore the information carrying capacity of optical
   fiber system is superior to the best copper cable system.
2. Small size and weight: Optical fiber have very small diameter which
   are often no greater than the diameter of human hair. Small size and
   light weight property of an optical fiber is somewhat advantageous
   in various applications like aircraft, satellites and even ships.
3. Electrical isolation: Optical fibers which are fabricated from glass
   or sometimes a plastic polymer are electrical insulator, they do not
   exhibit earth loop and interface problems. Hence no hazards of short
   circuit as in metal wires.
4. Immunity to interference and crosstalk: Optical fibers form a
   dielectric waveguides and are therefore free from electromagnetic
   interference (EMI), radio frequency (RF), etc. Hence the operation
   of an optical fiber communication system is unaffected by
   transmission through an electrically noisy environment and fiber
   cable requires no shielding from EMI.
5. Signal security: The light from optical fibers does not radiate
   significantly and therefore they provide a high degree of signal
   security:
6. Low transmission loss: Fibers have been fabricated with losses as
   low as 0.2dB/km and this feature has become a major advantage of
   optical fiber communication.
7. System reliability and ease of maintenance: The low loss property of
   optical fiber cable reduces the requirement for intermediate
   repeaters or line amplifiers to boost the transmitted signal
   strength. Hence with fewer repeaters the system reliability is
   greatly enhanced. High reliability reduces its expenditure on
   maintenance.
8. Ruggedness and Flexibility: Optical fibers have a very high tensile
   strength. The fibers may also be bent to quite small radii or
   twisted without damage.
9. Low cost and availability: The fibers are made from silica which is
   available in abundance. Hence there is no shortage of material and
   its cost is also less. So optical fiber offers a very low cost
   Communication.