The Brits Invented this? Whew Hoo

Scientists create internet cables 50,000 times faster than superfast broadband

The frustrations of slow internet downloads could become a thing of the past after British researchers discovered a way to send data at 50,000 times the average broadband speed.

Scientists at University College London have developed new fibre-optic equipment that can send data at 1.125 terabits per second.

The speed, a world record, is enough to transfer an entire TV series at high-definition quality in a fraction of a second, compared to the hours it would take many British households.

“This is almost 50,000 times greater than the average speed of a UK broadband connection of 24 megabits per second, which is the current speed defining ‘superfast’ broadband,” Dr Robert Maher, who lead the research, said.

This is almost 50,000 times greater than the average speed of a UK broadband connection

Dr Robert Mayer

“To give an example, the data rate we have achieved would allow the entire HD Game of Thrones series to be downloaded within one second.”

Downloading the same amount of data on a typical UK connection would take around an hour. Almost a third of households have speeds of less than 10 megabits per second, and would need around two hours.

The researchers said the “super-channel” technology could revolutionise broadband networks and create “the next generation of high-capacity communication systems”.

They achieved the breakthrough, published in the journal Scientific Reports, using similar fibre-optic technology that sends light signals through the thousands of miles of cables that make up the BT broadband network today.

 

The milestone was achieved by sending 15 pulses of light at different frequencies at once, a so-called “super-channel”, which allowed the researchers to send information at a much faster speed. A special receiver is able to capture the wide range of frequencies and process them.

The technique is commonly used to split up wireless signals but to date has not been used in fixed internet connections. Even the fastest state-of-the-art fibre-optic cables used by broadband companies today can achieve speeds of just 100 gigabits per second – less than one-tenth what the UCL researchers found.

“This ultimately resulted in us achieving the greatest information rate ever recorded using a single receiver,” Dr Maher said.

 

Although distance and network signal deterioration mean most consumers are unlikely to see connections at the speeds found in the laboratory, UCL’s Professor Polina Bayvel said if the new design were used instead of current technology, it would mean home broadband speeds more than 10 times faster.

“A high-capacity digital communications infrastructure underpins the internet and is essential to all aspects of the digital economy and everyday lives,” Bayvel said.

The technology is not yet commercially available but the UCL researchers now plan to test it to see if it can successfully carry data across the thousands of miles of optical fibres that cross the country.

The breakthrough comes as frustration at internet speeds creates pressure on regulators to break up BT, separating the Openreach division that manages the UK’s broadband infrastructure from BT itself.

If you’d like fast broadband in your home or office and want to save money then use usave’s broadband comparison tool and you’ll get the best broadband for the best price.

More than 100 MPs have called on Ofcom to enforce a break-up, claiming that British businesses have been held back by a “lack of ambition and under-investment”.

Mapped: The best and worst places in the country for broadband