Optical Fibre History
How the fibre communications revolution began

“ITT 140 Mbit/s optical fibre system” – R. E. Epworth

Paper describing details of the Hitchin-Stevenage 140 Mbit/s optical fibre system, presented at the National Transmission Conference in Los Angeles in 1977.

Note: ITT was the parent company for STC/STL.

Hitchin-Stevenage_Paper_NTC77_LA

2016: Half a Century of Optical Fibre Communications

2016 was the 50th anniversary of the publication that started it all.

Optical Fibre has transformed our world yet is now almost completely ignored.

The reasons?:

  • It is largely hidden (beneath our streets and oceans).
  • No surviving commercial organisation has an interest in promoting the STL history.
  • Few remember just how poor global communications used to be.

Useful Links

For anyone who enjoyed STL

STL Quarter Century Club

For the full story of optical communication see

"City of Light - The Story of Fiber Optics" by Jeff Hecht

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Designed by Richard Epworth.