Aston University successfully sends data 4.5 million times faster than broadband

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A research team led by Aston University has sent data at a speed that is 4.5 million times faster than the average home broadband.

Dr Ian Phillips with the wavelength management device
Dr Ian Phillips with the wavelength management device - Aston University

As part of an international collaboration, the researchers transferred data at a rate of 301 terabits or 301,000,000 megabits per second using a single, standard optical fibre.

In comparison, the Ofcom UK home broadband performance report, published in September 2023, stated that the average broadband speed is just 69.4 megabits per second.

The study’s rate is the fastest data ever sent, and researchers said they achieved this by opening up specific new wavelength bands that are not currently used in fibre optic systems.

Professor Wladek Forysiak from Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies and Dr Ian Phillips from Aston School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies were part of the team that successfully transmitted the data. They worked in collaboration with researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan and Nokia Bell Labs in the USA.

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