PlusJapan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has set a new world record in internet speed by hitting 1.02 petabits per second. This rate can move every bit of data in Netflix’s full catalog in only one second. It stands nearly sixteen million times faster than India’s usual broadband rate. The feat shows how far lab work can push data links beyond what people see at home.
How the Record Test Worked
NICT and its partners used a special fiber made by Sumitomo Electric along with European experts. They built a cable with nineteen cores inside the usual 0.125 mm width. Each core acted like one lane on a data highway. They looped these lanes in rings of 86.1 km each. Then they ran signals around the loops twenty‑one times. This full path covered 1 808 km, close to the stretch from London to Rome. By sending data through all lanes at once, they hit the 1.02 Pb/s mark.
Why This Matters for Networks
This trial shows the doors it can open for future links. At the same speed, networks could shift 26 times the total fixed traffic Japan saw by November 2024. It could back new systems past five G. It could carry huge AI model feeds or support massive cloud copies in real time. Also, it could also link data centers across oceans with very low lag. All that could help apps that need instant data moves.
How It Compares to Consumer Links
Most people use much lower rates. Singapore leads home broadband at about 345 Mbps. The UAE follows at 313 Mbps and Hong Kong at 312 Mbps. The US average nears 214 Mbps. Even top US states sit below 250 Mbps. India’s fixed lines average around 62 Mbps. By contrast, 1.02 Pb/s reaches 1 020 000 000 Mbps. That gulf shows why it stays in labs now. Yet it points to what could arrive if fiber can scale up.
Potential Uses and Next Steps
NICT must still move from glass loops to real runs under seas and soils. They plan more tests on longer spans and in real field gear. They need to cut costs on the special fiber if it is to win wide use. Plus, they also must boost the switches and routers that handle this scale in live nets. If teams clear these steps, we may see core links join continents with petabit speeds one day. That will shape how streaming, AI, and data backups roll out.
My Analysis
I find this leap both thrilling and slightly distant from daily life. It shows labs keep outpacing what most can buy. Yet each leap drives gear makers to follow. I expect we will see gradual speed rises in the next decade rather than instant shifts to petabits. But this test sets a clear goal. It tells network engineers that the bar sits in the quadrillions of bits per second. It also signals that big data moves may no longer form a barrier for global AI projects. And that may well change how we use the web in our homes and offices.
Sources: indianexpress.com
