By Geeks Are Sexy Blog, February 9, 2014
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A joint French and British project has achieved broadband speeds of 1.4 terabytes per second over a 255 mile distance, which the companies are claiming as a record. The speeds are apparently the result of an “alien super channel.”
The project is the work of French firm Alcatel-Lucent and British Telecom. They carried out the tests over an optical fiber cable running from the BT Tower (a London landmark, pictured) to a research facility in Ipswich. Staff described the transmission as being a “stable, error-free operation.”
Although similar speeds have been achieved in lab testing, this appears to be the first time they’ve been achieved over a “real-world” cable.
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The BBC notes that it’s highly unlikely the development will lead to noticable speed increases for consumers any time soon. However, it could mean that internet providers can make better use of existing cables and not need to spend as much upgrading networks as demand increases.
