5. Conclusion

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, fiber optics became a leading transmission medium in telecommunications networks, and is associated with the worldwide development of the Internet and the associated enormous growth in traffic, both in terms of very long-distance transmission and the provision of very high-speed services to the subscriber. But alongside this most visible application, fiber also finds numerous applications in industry, medicine, agri-food...

The structure and characteristics of single-mode fibers used in telecommunications have remained virtually unchanged since the 1990s, while "special" fibers dedicated to particular applications have developed. As far as telecommunications are concerned, a significant reduction in losses would be likely to call into question the engineering and economics of networks, but current fibers have losses...