Is Fiber Safe

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Published on Tuesday, 21 February 2023 15:17

Is Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) Safe?

One of the first things to understand regarding FTTP is that fiber optic cable has no emissions. It is not a copper cable carrying an electrical signal. It is not a Wi-Fi signal broadcasting radio frequencies through the air, nor is it a cellular frequency including the new Fifth Generation Cellular (5G). The fiber optic cable itself carries no electrical signal. The signal is simply infrared light through a tiny solid glass core. Not only does fiber have no electrical signal, but there is also no electrical equipment between our central office and the home. West Texas Rural Telephone Cooperative and WT Services, Inc. both use GPON technology, GPON is the acronym for Gigabit Passive Optical Network. This allows our companies to run fiber from our central office all the way to your home or business without adding any additional electrical power, Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMF), or Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) in the areas or streets of your towns and neighborhoods. No other technology can provide the data speed benefits of fiber optics. Benefitting from the speed of fiber optics does require an Optical Network Terminal (ONT). An ONT is a converter, and because this is a digital conversion, it is not actually a modem, but for easy reference it serves the same purpose as a modem.  This ONT may be inside or outside, and its function is to use electrical power to convert the signal coming in on the fiber to a signal that can be transmitted through your house on an Ethernet cable to a router. The ONT is grounded to prevent any kind of radio frequency (RF) or interference. The fiber optic cable, and the GPON have no electrical current and no RF signal. The only place where any electrical signal is applied is at the ONT. The ONT is powered by a standard 110-volt connection.

We understand that technology changes quickly, and as it does, it can be easy to be overwhelmed or confused by information or misinformation. The EMFs and radio frequencies we discuss and sometimes worry about are around us all the time. Our Wi-Fi devices in our houses and businesses and even in open areas or gathering places are using the same frequency as our sealed microwave ovens. Every Wi-Fi device in our lives has at least 2 radios constantly transmitting and receiving RF data. A cellular device that we carry around has at least three radios on different RF channels. These Wi-Fi and cellular devices are broadcasting and receiving all around and even through our bodies. The new 5G cellular is somewhat feared because it is a shorter wavelength and may penetrate the skin of humans even easier than current cellular frequencies, but no one really knows the effects or how to test for them. The FCC has performed studies and determined that Wi-Fi and cellular devices, meeting required safety regulations, do not produce enough energy to damage DNA or body tissues.

Answering the question in the title of this article is not a certainty, but understanding the technologies involved we can say yes, fiber optic cable is safe. I'm not sure anyone can say anything is absolutely without risk, but the risk, in comparison to the EMFs and RF's our bodies and brains are subjected to every day in our own residences and workplaces, is minuscule.

Michael Holmes

02/06/2023

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