How the fibre communications revolution began

George Hockham & Charles Kao at Rank Prize event

George Hockham & Charles Kao at the Rank Prize presentation event

Charles Kao and George Hockham receiving the Rank Prize for pioneering optical fibre communications

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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