Skip to main content

Telecommunications (Optical Fibres)

Volume 28: debated on Friday 30 July 1982

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry by what date he expects telecommunications in the United Kingdom to be operated on optical fibre circuits replacing copper coaxial cables over all major routes.

This is an operational matter for British Telecommunications. I understand, however, that economics favour fibre-optic cables for the long distance transmission of broadband signals and that British Telecom intends to use fibre-optics exclusively for new trunk network cables. One estimate is that by 1992 the greater proportion of trunk cables will be fibre-optic rather than coaxial.