Scientists in Japan have developed the world’s fastest internet which has the capacity to download nearly 80,000 movies in just one second.

To achieve this, engineers at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have developed an optical fibre with four cores which can reach speeds of 319 terabits per second (Tb/s), roughly 7.6 million times faster than the average 42 megabits per second (mbps) home internet speed in the US.

After combining the four optical fibre cables, researchers passed fires pulses of varying amplifications and wavelengths to transmit it to a greater distance.

Those behind the project said the standard cladding diameter, four-core optical fibre can be cabled with existing equipment, and “it is hoped that such fibres can enable practical high data-rate transmission in the near-term, contributing to the realisation of the backbone communications system, necessary for the spread of new communication services beyond 5G”.

The picture below represents a schematic diagram of the transmission system developed by NICT.

The NICT researchers said: “NICT will continue to develop wide-band, long-distance transmission systems and explore how to further increase transmission capacity of low-core-count multi-core fibres and other novel SDM fibres.

“Further, we will work to extend the transmission range to trans-oceanic distances.”