The Internet speed achieved is an absolute world record. 1 million times faster than current broadband.
A research team in Australia has reached the world record for internet speed: 44,2 terabits per second. A speed that allows, so to speak, to download 1.000 HD movies in a single second.
Researchers from Monash, Swinburne and RMIT universities used a 'micro-comb' optical chip containing hundreds of infrared lasers to transfer data across Melbourne's existing communications infrastructure.
The previous record is recent. It belonged to a Japanese team, which last April was able to make the signal travel even faster (172 terabits per second). In that case, 3 fiber cables were used (instead of one, as in this case) and for a length of 60 kilometers (instead of 70, as in this case).
The highest commercial Internet speed anywhere in the world is currently in Singapore, where the average download speed is 197,3 megabits per second (mbps).
There's a bit of a global rush at the moment to bring this technology to a commercial level, as the micro-comb at its core is useful across a really wide range of existing technologies.
Bill Corcoran, Monash University
“I imagine we could see devices like ours available for research labs in two to three years and for initial commercial use in about five years,” adds Corcoran.
New world, new network
The coronavirus lockdown has put a strain on internet infrastructure in recent months. In Italy they registered traffic increases even 70% daily.
In Europe, streaming providers were asked to downgrade their services in March to cope with increased traffic. Netflix and YouTube were among those who agreed to reduce image quality for users.
Implementing the micro-comb device would alleviate this problem, according to the researchers.
Internet speed: crucial factor
The coronavirus has given us just a preview of the capacity problems networks will see in a few years, especially as we start bringing data-hungry technology like 5G, self-driving cars and the Internet of Things online.
For this we will need new compact technologies like this. A device the size of a fingernail can expand the data-carrying capacity of our networks to reduce space, power consumption and costs, while increasing overall data speeds. The Australians' demonstration shows something very encouraging: the technology is compatible with the fiber optic infrastructure already installed.
