792 meters per microsecond (µs) or 3. In fiber optics, the latency of the fiber is the time it takes for light to travel a specified distance through the glass core of the fiber. Latency is a term that is used to describe a time delay in a transmission medium such as a vacuum, air, or a fiber optic waveguide. This reduction in speed is determined by the material's Group Refractive Index (n). When transmitting over. Light signals transmitted through fiber optics travel at approximately 200,000 km/s, which is slower than the speed of light in a vacuum (300,000 km/s) due to refraction in the glass material.