`Fastest ever` broadband speeds achieved by UK scientists

Zee Media Bureau/ Salome Phelamei

London: Raising hopes of millions of net users for more efficient data transfer in the current infrastructure, scientists in the UK have achieved the "fastest ever" broadband speeds in a test. The test was jointly conducted by British Telecom (BT) and French networking equipment company Alcatel-Lucent over the 255 mile distance between London`s BT tower and Ipswich between in October and November last year. Researchers achieved the high speeds of 1.4 terabits per second - enough to transmit 44 high-definition movies in just a second, using existing fibre cable technology. The test is being seen as highly important for internet service providers (ISPs), as it proves that greater amount of data can be sent through existing broadband infrastructure without the need for costly upgrades. There are faster methods of transmitting data - such as the use of complex laser technology - but this is the first test to achieve such high speeds in “real world” conditions, outside testing labs, ‘BBC News’ reported. Kevin Drury, optical marketing leader at Alcatel-Lucent, likened the development to reducing space between lanes on a busy motorway, enabling more lanes of traffic to flow through the same area. In the test, scientists used `flexigrid` infrastructure to create an `alien super channel, made up of seven 200 gigabits per second (Gbps) channels. These channels were combined to give a total capacity of 1.4 terabits per second. This results in a 42.5 per cent increase in the efficiency of data transmission compared to the current standard networks available.