Japan Breaks Internet Speed Record: Japan sets a world record in speed on the internet as it reaches a mind-boggling 1.02 petabits per second (Pbps) as tested by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). This is 16 million times quicker compared to the average internet connection in India and 3.5 times quicker than that of the U.S. This is fast enough to download all the content on Netflix or Wikipedia in the English language thousands of times within one second.
How Did They Do It?
NICT, together with Sumitomo Electric and European researchers, transmitted 180 data channels over 1808 km*, using a 19-core optical fibre cable only 0.125 mm in diameter, the same diameter as existing used cables. They repeated the signal 19 times in a total of 86.1km, or 21 times. That is 1.86 exabits of information per km per second, the biggest in history.
You may also like, A Decade of Digital India: How PM Narendra Modi Transformed a Nation Through Technology
What’s the Big Deal?
No Cable to replace
And the most shocking thing about it? This is done without displacing the current cable networks. It demonstrates that we can attain the scorching speeds through intelligent technology overhauling, rather than road digging and planting new wires.
Game-Changer for Global Internet
It is not only an innovation of Japan. It is a message to the whole world:
- That is not a dream; it is ultra-high-speed internet.
- That can be done now with the right technology.
Why It Matters?
This innovation has demonstrated that ultra-fast internet can be attained without the need to replace the existing cables. Although not currently public, this lays the groundwork for a faster and more efficient internet, which is particularly important.
- Streaming of 8K video
- Artificial intelligence and cloud computing
- Highly data-intensive systems
