Fibre splice

This fibre splice was removed from BT's London access network which connects the telephone exchange to the user's premises. The circuit ran from London to a Shell fuel depot at Great Massingham, Norfolk. Fibre optic technology allows data to be transmitted via glass strands rather than copper cables creating a faster network capable of handling greater amounts of data.

In the 1960s, engineers and scientists conducted pioneering research into fibre optic technology at the General Post Office's Research Station at Dollis Hill in north-west London.

The GPO's successor BT developed and patented a technology called 'blown fibre', which is used to deliver high-speed broadband. The fibre optic cable contains a number of empty plastic tubes; compressed air is used to blow glass fibres through the cable when required. The fibre splice was located inside the building and used to splice fibres into the orange optical tails.