In article k.net, "Bill
Sohl" writes:

Actually, in really high speed optical equipment it is both
time domain and wavelengths/frequency (sometimes called color) domains.

Multiple "carriers" (different light wavelengths) on the same fiber,
right? Kinda like multiple telegraph carriers of old.

But isn't the basic modulation scheme still on-off keying of the
light, rather than shifting its color or phase?

Yes. I wasn't disputing that point, just noting that the on/off time domain
muxing isn't the only way that increased data rates are obtained.

Agreed. Just like containerized shipping has revolutionized freight
transportation, fiber optics has revolutionized communications.

There is equipment out there that operates at 1.6 Terrabits/sec.

lessee...10^12 bits/second...that's more than all of the RF spectrum
normally used for radio, right? And that's through *one* fiber that's
immune to EM fields, weather, ionospheric and tropospheric
propagation, EMI and almost everything else except shovels.

Now that's cool.

But it does have a downside. It permits a significant number of US
jobs to be outsourced to places like India (or anywhere else that has
a significant English-speaking population).

New technology almost always has a downside for some group or groups.
Would you rather such advances not become reality?

Not at all - but I'd rather have it that the downsides be explored more
thoroughly *before* they occur.

73 de Jim, N2EY