ABSTRACT
Transmission medium is an essential component of a network which serves the purpose of telecommunication by giving a path to the data signals to pass through and transmit from one place to another. A transmission medium can be said as the highways or arteries of telecommunication. Transmission media are either wire-lined or wireless; copper cables and optical fiber cables are popular types of the wireline medium. The copper cable and optical fiber cable both can provide connectivity to homes and business with the Internet. But nowadays, optical fiber cables seem to be more and more popular and efficient in data centers requiring high data speed. Optical fibers have several advantages and can provide greater bandwidth and longer transmission distances with low signal losses with signals to go through the cables as the beam of light rather than electrical signals. However, with the development of technology like power over Ethernet, the copper cables also remain vital in some of the networking applications, e.g., Internet Protocol camera or in-building networks, considering that they can deliver data and supply power simultaneously. So, it is a remarkable question to answer: which among them, the copper cable or the optical fiber cable, is the choice of future? Will the copper cables be replaced by optical fiber cables?
