IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.3ae is a 10GE (Gigabit Ethernet) fiber optic cable interface standard. As 1-Gbps Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) become standard on desktop and workstation computers, silicon vendors are ready to raise Ethernet transmission anew to the level of 10Gbps. The goal is to 'leverage the economies of scale that Ethernet has always enjoyed because of its wide deployment across many diverse applications, making 10 GE more cost-effective than links such as Fibre Channel.' The IEEE 802.3ak (or 10Gbase-CS4) standard is for copper cables. IEEE 802.3ae is more costly because it requires single-mode fiber, specialized connectors, and manual alignment of lasers during installation. IEEE has also started work recently on the 802.aq standard, which is a multi-mode standard for 10 GE operating at distances larger than 200m. IEEE 803.aq will be able to use fiber in data centers, and will eliminate the obstacle to entry related to installation of single-mode fiber. The 10GBase-CX4 standard is for distances of between 10m-20m. The 10Base-T standard has created substantial interest and will define the way in which 10 GE is run over copper cables, since copper is less costly than fiber. Many enterprises predict that 10 GE deployment will be possible for enterprise networks on the desktop, in consumer networks, and in data centers and storage networks. They want to use 10 GE for video, but the requirements of convenience will reduce bandwidth needs to make applications such as wireless and remote connect effective and possible. However, the question remains as to the 10 GE applications that will reduce costs. Although 10 GE will have a niche as an interswitch connection or link between campuses, if it is deployed mostly at the core, there are no high volume applications to put its costs in line with competing transmission modes.