The future of fibre-optic networks – why the constant need for speed?

Gail Holt, Managing Director, Hardware Distribution.

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The global and local digital economy is accelerating at a pace that no one could’ve predicted a decade ago. At the heart of this change lies fibre-optic infrastructure, carrying vast quantities of data across continents and oceans into every corporate, home and mobile device.

At the centre of this infrastructure is fibre, quietly powering everything from corporate usage, home broadband in small towns to hyperscale data traffic in between cities. But as usage accelerates, one question remains: why do we always need more speed?

While wireless and satellite networks dominate access for many users, fibre has become the backbone of both consumer and enterprise connectivity. Data consumption is being driven by a convergence of technologies: cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), streaming, IOT and next-generation mobile networks.

Key drivers include:

• Rapid growth of streaming and digital content consumption – streaming in 4K/8K, virtual reality and real-time collaboration tools are pushing bandwidth requirements beyond gigabit levels.
• Expansion of cloud services and local data centres – AI-driven infrastructure alone is dramatically increasing fibre density and capacity requirements in modern data centres. AI doesn’t tolerate delay. Latency is the new bottleneck, and fibre is the only technology that can keep up.
• The rise of fintech and digital banking platforms.
• Increased reliance on remote work and online education.

“Network operators are not upgrading networks for convenience, they are upgrading them to address the increased demand for additional bandwidth due to the compounding need for more data,” comments Gail Holt, MD of Hardware Distribution, official Prolabs distributor.

Twenty years ago (mid-2000s)

• Broadband was limited and expensive.
• Speeds of 512Kbps to 4Mbps were common.
• Heavy reliance on copper (ADSL) and early wireless.
• International bandwidth was constrained and costly.

Ten years ago (mid-2010s)

• Fibre to the home (FTTH) began expanding in urban areas.
• Typical speeds: 10Mbps-100Mbps.
• Mobile broadband (3G/4G) surged.
• Data costs started to decline.

“Ten years ago, even 20Mbps felt fast in South Africa. Today, that’s no longer enough for a connected household,” notes Holt.

Today (mid-2020s)

• Consumer fibre: 50Mbps to 1Gbps+, with multi-gig emerging.
• Enterprise: 10G to 100G and beyond.
• Data centres and IXPs (internet exchange points) expanding in major metros.
• Submarine cables delivering massive international capacity.

“We’ve seen an incredible leap, from kilobits to gigabits, and demand is still accelerating,” Holt says.

Banking and financial services

South Africa has one of the most advanced banking sectors in Africa, with institutions operating highly digitised platforms. Typical requirements:

• 10Gbps-100Gbps core connectivity.
• Real-time transaction processing and fraud detection.
• High availability and disaster recovery across regions.

“Banks can’t afford latency or downtime. Every millisecond and every packet matters,” Holt explains.

Data centre interconnects (DCI)

Cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town have become key data centre hubs, with increasing investment from global cloud providers. Typical capacity:

• 100G to 400G links, scaling upward.
• High-volume traffic between facilities and cloud regions.

“Data centres don’t just store data, they constantly move it.”

Backhaul and wholesale fibre providers

Operators across South Africa must deliver capacity across vast distances, from dense urban hubs to more remote areas. They also connect to various data centres to enable their services. Typical backhaul demands:

• 10Gbps-25 Gbps per mobile site (5G-ready).
• 100G-400G aggregation links.
• Growing need for high-capacity national long-haul routes.

“Backhaul providers are under pressure from both sides – operators and enterprises – to deliver more and more capacity,” continues Holt.

Delivering fast last-mile fibre in suburbs is only part of the equation. The real challenge lies in the backhaul networks that connect data centres, cities, towns and international gateways.

In South Africa, long-distance fibre routes must carry aggregated traffic across provinces and urban demand often outpaces available metro and core capacity.

Every increase in access speed multiplies demand upstream:

• A suburb adopting 1Gbps fibre requires massive aggregation capacity.
• 5G rollout increases pressure on fibre-fed towers.
• Data centre growth drives intercity bandwidth demand.

“Access speeds are just the tip of the iceberg. The real challenge is building enough capacity behind them,” Holt explains.

Shrinking oversubscription–users are online more often and consuming more continuously. The peak usage is no longer occasional but constant.

Continuous traffic flows – streaming, cloud sync and AI workloads generate non-stop traffic.

“The network is no longer dealing with spikes, it’s dealing with a permanent flood,” says Holt.

Edge speeds drive core expansion–faster last-mile speeds force upgrades deeper into the network. For example, 10Gbps access means higher aggregation and core capacity.

Capacity must exist before it’s sold – providers must build ahead of demand to deliver guaranteed performance as wholesale services depend on available, scalable bandwidth.

Operators must invest proactively and build ahead of demand. “You can’t sell capacity you don’t already have. The business model depends on staying ahead of the additional bandwidth requirements,” Holt says. “Many of our FNO customers have already started to increase their fibre backbone to 400G.”

Even as networks expand, demand consistently catches up and surpasses supply.

The pattern is clear and repeating – networks get faster, new applications emerge, usage increases dramatically, but then networks reach capacity and the cycle begins again.

“Every time we remove a bottleneck, the industry finds a way to use that headroom,” says Holt. There is no plateau – only continuous acceleration.

The Hardware Distribution crew.

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South Africa mirrors global trends, but often with even sharper growth curves. More connectivity means more usage and demand. But with this, the networks take strain and operators therefore need to upgrade their infrastructure.

The answer is simple, but reflective: technology evolves faster than infrastructure.

Every leap in innovation – AI, immersive media, smart cities, autonomous systems – creates new demands that immediately strain existing networks.

Fibre optics is the only medium currently capable of scaling to meet those demands. It is “future proof” and can scale to extraordinary speeds – far beyond current commercial limits. But even fibre must continuously evolve – innovations in coherent optics and signal processing will unlock even higher capacity.

Scaling networks to meet these demands requires advanced optical infrastructure, especially high-performance transceivers.

Companies like Prolabs are enabling South African operators, ISPs and enterprises to scale efficiently.

Prolabs’ range of high-speed optical transceivers supports:

• 10G to 400G and emerging 800G AI deployments.
• Data centre interconnects across metros.
• National long-haul and backhaul networks.
• Enterprise and financial infrastructure.

These solutions allow operators to upgrade capacity without relying on costly OEM components, which is critical in a cost-sensitive and rapidly growing market like South Africa.

“As bandwidth demands grow, the flexibility and reliability of compatible optical components become just as important as raw speed,” Holt notes.

South Africa stands at a pivotal moment as data centre investment is increasing and the demand for high-speed, low-latency connectivity is surging.

But the key to unlocking this future lies not just in faster last-mile connections, but in massive, scalable backhaul capacity.

The future of fibre-optic networks is not just about higher speeds but about enabling a world where latency disappears, connectivity is ubiquitous and digital experiences feel instantaneous.

“The 'need for speed' is not going away. If anything, it’s accelerating,” concludes Holt.