The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services has called on partners to help build fiber optics for South Sudan.

Rebecca Joshua Okwaci says this would lead to a fast and cheap internet and the establishment of an electronic government.

“Without us being connected through the fiber, we will move very slowly. We will not talk about E- government,” Ms Okwaci said.

We will have slow internet, we will be complaining every day. We want this. South Sudan needs to be connected through to the fiber optic, we would like to reach the border of Uganda through Tanzania to the sea and that can be done in a short period of time.”

Ms Okwaci spoke yesterday during an occasion to celebrate the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

The day serves to create awareness on information technology through advocacy for digital literacy.

The day is marked annually on May 17, but South Sudan postponed it because it had fallen on a weekend.

Fiber Optics

This is a technology that uses glass (or plastic) threads (fibers) to transmit data. A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of transmitting messages modulated onto light waves.

According to experts, fiber optics has several advantages over traditional metal communications lines: Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means that they can carry more data.

Fiber optic cables are less susceptible than metal cables to interference. Fiber optic cables are much thinner and lighter than metal wires. Data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for computer data) rather than analogically.

However, the main disadvantage of fiber optics is that the cables are expensive to install. In addition, they are more fragile than wire and are difficult to splice.