In a collaboration between Alcatel-Lucent and BT, researchers achieved speeds of 1.4 terabits per second during joint tests on a 410 km (255 mile) fiber link between BT’s tower in central London and Ipswich.
Although consumers may not see these advances immediately, this achievement represents a significant milestone for internet service providers (ISPs) and the telecommunications industry.
Just recently, TelecomsTech reported LTE-Advanced speeds reaching up to 300 Mbps, highlighting the gap between the fastest wireless offerings and the average fixed-line broadband speed of about 14.7 Mbps. As internet use continues to grow and demand for capacity and speed rises, innovations like this will be essential for ISPs looking to keep up.
One of the most important benefits of the 1.4 Tbps result is that it can increase capacity over existing fiber infrastructure, reducing the need for costly new cabling. That allows providers to boost performance while controlling capital expenditure.
Oliver Johnson, chief executive of broadband analyst firm Point Topic, commented: “BT and Alcatel-Lucent are making more from what they’ve got. It allows them to increase their capacity without having to spend much more money.”
Demand for higher bandwidth has been growing by roughly 35% year on year. With the proliferation of connected devices and the predicted expansion of the Internet of Things, that demand is expected to increase substantially.
Adrian Baschnonga, Lead Analyst for Global Telecommunications at EY, noted: “This test will reassure broadband providers that there is no ceiling on future performance levels of current infrastructure.”
However, EY’s research also shows that consumers do not always prioritize speed above all else. In the UK, 66% of households say reliability is more important than raw speed, and 39% of consumers do not know the maximum advertised speed of their current broadband connection.
Certain scenarios, though, clearly benefit from higher speeds. As more people stream high-definition video on services like Netflix—which is preparing to offer 4K content—and as large game downloads of 50 GB or more become common, available bandwidth will increasingly matter.
Today’s average user can generally stream HD content without issue; users on a 1.4 Tbps connection, hypothetically, could stream dozens of high-definition movies simultaneously. For example, that level of capacity could support roughly 44 HD movies streaming at once, illustrating the potential for dramatically expanded service delivery.
What do you think about the new network upgrades being tested in London?