What effect does high dispersion have on optical fiber communication?

High dispersion in optical fiber communication leads to a spreading out of the light signal as it travels through the fiber. This spreading can result in overlapping of pulses that represent data, which can cause difficulties in differentiating between them over long distances. As a consequence, the overall effective bandwidth of the fiber is reduced. When dispersion is high, the ability to effectively transmit data at high speeds without error decreases, which means that the fiber cannot support as many data-carrying channels effectively, thus impacting the overall capacity of the system. Reducing effective bandwidth is particularly critical in long-haul communication applications where maintaining signal integrity over distance is essential.