Introduction 

The size of fiber optic cable depends on numerous parameters such as the wavelength, the speed, the bit rate or even the BER required.  Consequently, the properties of fiber optic cable may also determine the size of the cable given that the fiber optic cable used in watery areas is recommended to have broad surface areas.  Moreover, the producer may determine the size of its products given that some companies may have abundance of materials while others are experiencing shortages. 

Overview

For standard NRZ-OOK links with G652 fibers, the unamplified limit is approximately 100 km. I strongly suggest to use an optical transmission simulator (e.g. VPI transmission maker, optisystem, optsim) to check this limit under varying physical conditions.Vocus Communications is installing a new fiber optic cable with a 1,728 fiber count -- 12 times the fiber count of typical network cables with a similar diameter.

The initial cable, which Vocus is calling the "world's largest", will be laid in South Sydney, with the company hinting that opportunities for a further rollout will be explored.

Vocus said it has been trialing the cable in smaller formats for the last three years. Initially, the cable was designed as part of a bespoke solution that Vocus came up with to help a customer, which it took nine months to plan and deploy.  Alex West, Vocus chief operating officer, said the installation of the cable will mean the company will be able to serve more customers for a longer period, as well as have shorter delivery times to customers for new fiber services.

"The benefit of this cable is not just the initial installation, but it reduces the cost per fiber pair, as the civil works to install this cable is primarily the same as smaller core cables. Using this technology future-proofs the network, as the small-diameter cable gives us the ability to upgrade our network along a path to around four times 1,728 or 8,600 fibers down a street," he said. But Vocus is not only focused on this particular fiber optic cable. Earlier this year, the company said it was going to fork out an additional AU$58.5 million to increase the capacity of the Southern Cross Cable, the undersea cable connecting Australia and New Zealand with the United States. Vocus boosted its half-year revenue by 41.6 percent to AU$62.7 million. It was underpinned by the increase in demand for its data services and product suite, and its acquisition strategy.

Conclusion

The size of fiber optic cable will depend on the number of optical fibers contained inside. If the fiber optic cable contains hundred fibers, then expect the size to be large with those containing two fibers being small in size.