>From www.verizon.com/fios, this nice bit, with no dumbing down.
Communication at the speed of light That's why you need fiber optics. It's a unique technology that transmits data through hair-thin strands of glass fiber, using laser-generated pulses of light-and light travels faster than any other wave, 300,000 kilometers per second. The result? Mind-boggling speed, almost no loss of quality over long distances, and virtually unlimited capacity or "bandwidth." All 32 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica, for example, can be sent through an optical connection in less than a second! Carleton
