Which characteristic of fiber optic cables helps in maintaining signal quality?

Low attenuation is a crucial characteristic of fiber optic cables that significantly contributes to maintaining signal quality. In the context of fiber optics, attenuation refers to the loss of signal strength as the light travels through the fiber. A lower attenuation means that the signal can travel longer distances without losing its integrity, thus ensuring that the data transmitted retains its quality and is less susceptible to degradation.

When fiber optic cables have low attenuation, they allow for longer spans between repeaters or amplifiers, which is particularly beneficial for telecommunications and data networks. This characteristic is vital for applications requiring high-speed data transmission over extended distances, such as internet backbone infrastructure or long-haul communications.

While cable flexibility, high tensile strength, and color coding are also important aspects of fiber optic cables, they do not directly influence the signal quality in terms of how well the data is transmitted over distances. Flexibility aids in installation and handling, tensile strength contributes to the durability and resistance to breaking, and color coding is useful for identifying different fiber strands. However, it is the low attenuation that is specifically linked to maintaining signal quality during transmission over long distances.