Fastest ever Internet data transmission rate achieved in UK

Researchers in the UK have set a new world record in data transmission rates passing 178 terabits per second (Tbps) setting the fastest Internet speed ever!

It surpassed the record set by Japan earlier and is reportedly four times faster than the best Internet speed at the present. The speed can be gauged by the fact that 15GB 4k movie can be downloaded in a second, not just a single movie but 1,500 of them.

The record was put forth in the University College London (UCL) and published in the journal IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

The researchers said that the record transmission was achieved by passing a range of wavelength which is typically not used in optical fibre. 

The researchers claimed that the technique can be used in existing infrastructure without adding to the cost structure which would need upgrading the amplifiers located on optical fibre routes at 40-100km intervals. The technique allowed more information to be sent in the same space which has always been a challenge for scientists.

The researchers said that the speed is close to the theoretical data transmission limit set out by American mathematician Claude Shannon in 1949.