Electronic devices communicate internally using electrons on conductors and communicate with other devices using copper cables. radio waves (wireless) or fiber optics. Most hardware like computers comes with an Ethernet port for connecting to the Internet or LANs that requires a Category 5/5e/6/6A unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable connection. Laptops, smaartphones and tablets include a wireless (WiFi) connection also. Video cameras usually have a coaxial cable connection. All of these often require connections into fiber optic networks since fiber optics is the backbone of the world's communications.


Conversion to fiber is also desirable sometimes because of fiber's immunity to electromagnetic interference or ability to communicate over long distances.


This video explains how fiber optic media converters are used and how they work.