A plastic fiber might be as little as 960 microns in diameter, about the diameter of a nail. A fiber optic cable will often replace several copper pair because of the greater signal carrying capacity. Optical fiber is a dielectric and does not carry electricity. There is no spark, shock or fire hazard, it cannot cause explosions. It is intrinsically safe.
Fiber optics works well in hazardous locations.
Because of the improvements in the fiber Optic cable and accessories it is now considered by most people to be the most cost effective system to install in a new installation, or for a major system upgrade. The only speed limitation on optical fiber is the electronics. As we start coming to the end of this decade we see an overwhelmingly large number of new products to provide cheaper and easier installation of fiber optic systems both in the home and in industry. These products include quick and simple connectors for the plastic fiber. Optical fiber systems are considered the most reliable for data communications.