ECOC 1975 - ECOC 2013

164
At present, despite the technological progress made, the choice is
still inhibited by the availability of the elements and uncertainty
about the ultimate status in production. For example, if CW lasers and
single mode cables with efficient connectors were as readily available
as fibre bundles and LED'snthe current emphasis on applications might
be quite different. It is the rapid change in this situation which
makes the field worth following closely.
The talk will draw on examples of some current activity in fibre optic
communication technology and field demonstration programme to illustrate
and substantiate the argument that both the "next generation" condition
and some of the "not yet invented" condition will be met within five
years from now.