World's fastest internet speed recorded by scientists in Australia

The world’s fastest internet – capable of downloading 1,000 high definition films a second has been recorded in Australia.

Data speeds of 44.2 Terabits-per-second were documented thanks to families in lockdown pushing their broadband to the limit by working, socialising and streaming online.

The technology, from a single chip, has the capacity to support the high-speed internet connections of billions of people across the world, even during peak periods.

And experts hope the super fast data could even be used for self-driving cars, in medicine, for education and beyond.

Researchers discovered the high speed data, which is usually confined to a laboratory, while testing a new device known as a micro-comb.

The single gadget replaces 80 lasers and is much smaller and lighter than existing hardware.

It was planted and tested using current infrastructure, which mirrors that used by Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

It is the first time any micro-comb has been used in a ‘real world’ setting and holds the highest amount of data produced from a single optical chip.

The authors believe this is a glimpse into the future of high-speed internet worldwide.

Study co-lead author Dr Bill Corcoran from Monash University said: ‘We’re currently getting a sneak-peak of how the infrastructure for the internet will hold up in two to three years’ time, due to the unprecedented number of people using the internet for remote work, socialising and streaming.

‘It’s really showing us that we need to be able to scale the capacity of our internet connections.

‘What our research demonstrates is the ability for fibres that we already have in the ground, thanks to the NBN project, to be the backbone of communications networks now and in the future. We’ve developed something that is scalable to meet future needs.

‘And it’s not just Netflix we’re talking about here – it’s the broader scale of what we use our communication networks for.

‘This data can be used for self-driving cars and future transportation and it can help the medicine, education, finance and e-commerce industries, as well as enable us to read with our grandchildren from kilometres away.’

To illustrate just how effective micro-combs are, researchers installed 76.6km of ‘dark’ optical fibres between two university campuses.

Within the fibres they placed the micro-comb which acts like a rainbow made up of hundreds of high quality infrared lasers, all from a single chip.

Each laser can be used as a separate communications channel and the team were able to send maximum data down each channel, simulating peak internet usage.

The team believes reaching data speeds of 44.2 Terabits per second is a huge step forward.

Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell from RMIT University said it shows the potential of Australian infrastructure and hopes the technology will be rolled out across the world.

‘We could imagine this technology becoming sufficiently low cost and compact that it could be deployed for commercial use by the general public in cities across the world,’ he said.

Professor David Moss from Swinburne University said: ‘In the 10 years since I co-invented micro-comb chips, they have become an enormously important field of research.

‘It is truly exciting to see their capability in ultra-high bandwidth fibre optic telecommunications coming to fruition.

‘This work represents a world-record for bandwidth down a single optical fibre from a single chip source, and represents an enormous breakthrough for part of the network which does the heaviest lifting.

‘Micro-combs offer enormous promise for us to meet the world’s insatiable demand for bandwidth.’

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.