BT's breakneck broadband test hits unimaginable speeds over plain ol' fiber
BT still has a long way to go until it connects all of Britain's homes to its fiber-optic network, but that hasn't stopped the company from exploring new ways to squeeze some extra speed out of it while it does. With a little help from friends at Alcatel-Lucent, BT boffins have created what they believe is the fastest-ever "real-world" internet connection, clocking speeds of 1.4 terabits per second using readily available hardware. If you're wondering how fast that is, the telecom giant says the network can transmit 44 uncompressed HD movies in a single second. While the project currently exists purely as a speed test, BT and Alcatel-Lucent are already talking up the possibilities of improving existing services like Infinity without having to dig up roads, potentially delivering broadband that can handle an influx of Ultra HD content on Netflix with less chance of suffering connection issues.
[Image Credit: Barta IV, Flickr]
