Fiber-optic communication
OverviewHistoryBackgroundApplicationsTechnologyParametersComparison with electrical transmissionGoverning standards
In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter created a very early precursor to fiber-optic communications, the Photophone, at Bell''s newly established Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C.. Bell considered it his most important invention. The device allowed for the transmission of sound on a beam of light. On June 3, 1880, Bell conducted the world''s first wireless telephone transmission between two buildings, some 213 meters apart. Due to its use of an atmospher