TECH – Researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have achieved an extraordinary milestone in optical communications: data transfer at 1.02 petabits per seconds, equivalent to transmitting over 125,000 GB/s across approximately 1,800 km or the distance from New York to Florida. This speed breakthrough, announced at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference in April, quadrupled the prior world record and eclipsed typical U.S. broadband by about 4 million times.
This advanced transmission used a 19-core optical fibre cable each core carrying light in near-identical conditions, packaged to match the diameter of conventional single-mode cables (~0.127 mm), enabling upgrades to existing infrastructure. In testing, signals were sent 21 times through a 86-km recirculating loop, simulating a continuous span of 1,120 mi and maintaining exceptional signal integrity over long distances.
To appreciate the magnitude of this achievement: at that speed, the entire English Wikipedia (around 100 GB) could be downloaded 10,000 times in a single second, or the full Netflix library downloaded in under one second, even the vast Internet Archive would transfer in under four minutes. Significantly, this 1.02 Pb/s speed is about 3.5 million times faster than the average U.S. residential connection and some 16 million times faster than India’s fiber speeds (~63 Mbps) .
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Beyond raw speed, this record highlights the potential for real-world deployment using current cabling systems, no need for costly core replacement. The multi-core fibre’s compatibility allows for upgrades and expansion without major overhauls . Fiber density innovation and uniform light-carrying efficiency address long-standing limitations around bandwidth, signal loss, and distortion over distance .
Experts emphasize this leap as critical preparation for upcoming technology demands, AI-driven cloud computing, real-time telemedicine, high-bandwidth video streaming, 6G backbones, and expansive data-centre interconnects. NICT underscores that while home consumer speeds won’t immediately reach these levels, this prototype marks a foundational step toward scalable, high-capacity optical networks.
With global data traffic growing exponentially, such breakthroughs could underpin the next phase of internet evolution, facilitating seamless, instantaneous data flows across continents. As Japan’s researchers prepare for potential telecom implementations, this experimentation heralds a future in which ultra-fast fiber networks support ever-more ambitious digital applications.
