fiber optics, the science of transmitting data, voice, and images by the passage of light through thin, transparent fibers. In telecommunications, fiber optic technology has virtually replaced copper wire in long-distance telephone lines, and it is used to link computers within. An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communication, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than. Fiber optics, or optical fiber, refers to the technology that transmits information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fiber. Light acts as a carrier wave and can be modulated to carry information. In telecommunications, fiber optic technology.