Fiber Optics Replace Silk On China-Europe Route

Centuries ago it was the famed Silk Road trade route that linked China to Europe. Today, after five years of construction, the Orient and the Occident are joined by a 16,875-mile fiber optic cable that runs between Shanghai and a Frankfurt-am-Rhein. Said to be the longest overland fiber-optic installation in the world, the cable provides digital circuits for transmitting voice, data, fax, and video. From China, it's routed through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Romania, Hungary, and Austria to Germany.