Fiber for Breakfast Week 27: Optical Fiber and Cable Market Outlook: The Role of Hollow-Core and Multicore Fiber 📈
The fiber industry has been through several waves of growth. Each one has been tied to a major technology shift, from mobile networks to FTTH and now to AI-driven data centers. This week’s Fiber for Breakfast focused on what comes next as those demands begin to push optical networks in new directions.
Gary sat down with Ahmed Ali, Senior Analyst and Lead of CRU’s Optical Fiber and Cable Services, to discuss the latest market outlook for optical fiber and cable, including the growing role of hollow-core and multicore fiber. The message was clear: conventional single-mode fiber remains the foundation of global connectivity, but some emerging AI applications are driving the need for ultra-low latency and high fiber count cables. AI Data Centers provide ideal applications for significantly reducing the size on fiber count cable using multicore fiber. Low latency is also critical in AI Data Centers, providing the perfect application of hollow-core fiber, where low latency of fiber is taken to the next level of ultra-low latency.
🎉Congratulations to FBA's Deborah Kish and the OpTIC PathTM Program!🎉
Broadband Communities revealed the finalists for the 2026 Broadband Communities Awards, celebrating excellence, innovation, and community impact in the broadband sector:
🏆Deborah Kish, FBA VP of Research and Workforce Development, was named a finalist for the Broadband Visionary award
🏆FBA's OpTIC Path program was named a finalist for the Workforce Development award
Want to see your company's fiber news featured here? Email your press releases and related images to fiberforward@fiberbroadband.org by noon ET on Wednesdays.
💻Improve Local Digital Skills & Benefits💻
FBA's initiative with AARP's Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) program provides FBA member operators with a ready-made pathway to improve digital skills and benefits for the communities they serve. Get started today by contacting Deborah Kish at dkish@fiberbroadband.org.
💠Connect senior centers, libraries, and community hubs to fiber
💠Utilize Senior Planet's existing, proven digital skills programming for telehealth education, online safety, and social connection
💠Scalable tiered model that works whether you serve one town or 100 cities
💠Educate the aging population to safely participate in the digital world
🙌 Upcoming Member Mingles 🙌
📆Mon., Jul. 15 | Washington, DC, Fiber Day on The Hill | 5 PM EDT
As always, there is no cost to attend. Stay tuned for more upcoming Member Mingles in Virginia, Colorado, and North Carolina! Track all upcoming FBA events here.
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