It therefore does away with expensive conversion of optical signals to electrical one and vice versa. Optical networking also offers services at much higher speeds than current networks. A network that is transparent means there is less conversion from optical signals to electrical signals and vice versa.
Pure transparency means there is no conversion at all.
Today, the challenge facing IP networks such as the Internet is a result of their phenomenal growth. The greatest barrier to further expansion is that IP is a connectionless protocol. Each separate packet of information in a transmission moves through the network to its destination along a path determined by a distributed set of routing tables and the current network topology. Such a network is very flexible, but the traffic cannot be managed to improve network predictability and stability. Increasing network bandwidth is not enough to meet demand - the network must become more efficient.