However, as the number of such transmissions over a single piece of copper cabling increases, bandwidth becomes limited. Fiber optic cabling brings much more bandwidth to the picture. Fiber also comes in two varieties, multimode and single-mode, giving customers the option of using this medium over the LAN or over a distance of several kilometers. This ability allows the provider to add more channels to meet traffic demand and then remove them when they are no longer needed. Synchronous transmission environments also allow customers to do real-time routing around nodes that are experiencing a lot of traffic.
Customers can reconfigure routes without having to end voice and other sessions.
Another benefit of synchronous transmission includes the ability for service providers to conduct automatic testing and maintenance of network performance. This is accomplished through overhead channels that are tacked onto the transmission itself. These channels can perform automated functions such as maintenance, testing, and issuance of reports. STS-1 signals to create a concatenated, or linked, signal.