Georgia Electric Membership Corporation

How to distinguish between electric wires and fiber optic cables

Fiber optic cables excel in high-speed, long-distance communication with superior bandwidth and immunity to interference, while copper wires remain cost-effective for shorter distances and applications requiring electrical power transmission. It's composed of several parts such as the cable core, reinforced steel wire or other strength member, filler and sheath. In addition, there are components such as water blocking materials. In computer network, cables are the medium through which data transfer from one computer to another. Wires can be bare (uninsulated) or covered with an insulating layer. Generally, the products with a small number of cores, small product diameter and simple structure are called wires, those without insulation are called bare wires, and others are called cables. What is a Fiber Optic Cable?.