I have just came to know that TM is now replacing direct copper lines to phone exchanges where there is high occurrence of cables being stolen.

For a thin strand of fiber about the width of a human hair it promises speeds which are multiples of what copper can offer.Bet still, no cable thief will have an eye at it because it has almost no resale value.

The only problem is why TM is taking such a long time to replace them in my area.

No you're all getting the wrong picture.

You do not need to replace the copper cables which runs right into your house(internal wiring).

They are replacing those big bundles of copper pair which runs inside those aerial cabling on the phone poles with just a single thin pair of drop fiber to the switch box situated along the road outside your house.



no comments on that but if your phone switch box outside your house gets vandalized or cables got stolen overnight.Very likely the next round of replacement will be made with fiber optic cables.

This post has been edited by iipohbee: Jan 16 2009, 12:58 AM

There's almost no resale value for fiber optic cables.

Each fiber strand is just as thin as your pencil lead.Just a slight force could fracture it without proper handling/insulation.
Unlike metallic cables where you can sell it to the junk shop for smelting, what do you plan to do with this these thin and fine strands of silica?

A TM technician(not from my area) once told me they got so fed up of replacing stolen cables after a few times until they finally decided to replace them with a single drop fiber.

Miraculously, after the replacement there were no more cable thief case after that.

The material used in fiber optic cables are refined silica which is basically good quality glass. How much of glass could you get out of let's say 10M of fiber cable?

I would suggest the person who intends to steal fiber cables better to collect drink or ketchup bottles to make a living.