How fiber feeds AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon

Compared to some of the new-fangled technologies, fiber is old-school, but it's the connective tissue for most of the new services and applications. Whether it's fiber-to-the-premise or home, long-haul fiber, metro fiber rings, fiber to a cell tower or small cell, the world's networks increasingly rely on fiber. "Fiber leads all of the businesses that we have," said CenturyLink's Ed Morche, president of strategic enterprise and government markets. "Everything is driven around fiber investment and providing a better experience to our customer, and bringing as many facilities on (fiber) as possible."