THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE LOW-COST FIBER OPTIC LINKS CURRENTLY BEING USED FOR FIVE MEGABIT/SECOND (MBPS) DATA COMMUNICATION AND COMPARES THEM WITH LINKS DEVELOPED FOR 100 MBPS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS AND GIGABIT/SECOND LONG DISTANCE TELECOMMUNICATIONS. IT ALSO REVIEWS THE NOISE IMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS AND THE OTHER ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OVER TWISTED-PAIR AND COAXIAL MEDIA IN THE PLANT ENVIRONMENT. LOCAL AREA NETWORKS ARE DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF INSTALLING FIBER CABLE FOR APPLICATIONS THAT CAN BE USED IN THE FUTURE FOR 100 MBPS DATA TRANSMISSION ON FOR BROADBAND VOICE AND VIDEO SYSTEMS.