UK Scientists Are Developing Optical Fiber 2000 Times Faster Than Current Aiming For Home [News]

A team of researchers from the University of Bangor, Wales, discovered a new method for developing optical fiber which makes the transmission of data 2000 times faster than currently available services. The technology uses the Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) system.Moreover, the big news is the accessibility, since the goal is this new fiber will be commercially available to the general public, such as homes and businesses. However, the project is not the first to get success with the method. Last year, a team of the University of Sydney, Australia, had discovered a way to transfer data via optical fiber at a distance of 50 km, at speeds of up to 26 Tbps (terabits per second).

The OCEAN project, as it is called in Wales, involves large companies, such as Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe, the Finisar Israel, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and VPIsystems GmbH.

Jianming Tang, one of the professors at the University of Bangor, explained that the new technology offers speeds up to 2000 times faster than the current for the same price that people are paying for a 20 Mb/s connection.

Compared to today’s commercially available broadband connections, the technology is expected to provide end-users with both downloading and uploading speeds up to 2,000 times faster than current speeds and with a guaranteed quality of services at a price that subscribers are currently paying for their current 20Mb/s services, regardless of subscribers’ home location. Obviously, this will revolutionise communication technology.”
- Professor Jianming Tang, Professor of University of Bangor

However, there are many other points to consider before determining the value of the discovery. After all, the structures of data transfer are still based on copper lines for broadband and you also need to evaluate issues such as service capacity of service providers. That is, it is not a solution planned for a future so soon.

[Via]