Japan’s new web pace report makes in the present day’s broadband look historical

Over the previous 20 years, internet speeds have vastly improved because of advances in fiber expertise. Whereas gigabit web is changing into more common within the US, it nonetheless lags behind the speeds just lately achieved by researchers in Japan.

In accordance with the Nationwide Institute of Data and Communications Expertise (NICT) in Japan, it has set a brand new world report for web pace, reaching 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,123 miles. That equals about 127,500 GB/s, and roughly the space between Chicago and Dallas. With that pace, you can obtain Netflix’s complete streaming library in only one second (through CNET). You’d additionally by no means have a difficulty downloading a 100GB online game ever once more.

Within the US, web pace is often measured in megabits per second (Mbps). In the event you convert Japan’s achievement, it equals roughly 1,020,000,000 Mbps. In accordance with Speedtest, the typical fastened broadband web pace within the US is round 288 Mbps. So, the pace researchers in Japan have simply reached is greater than 3 million instances sooner.

How did NICT researchers obtain this?

They used a 19-core optical fiber cable

Japan’s NICT achieved its new web pace report by growing an optical fiber with 19 cores, built-in right into a cable measuring simply 0.125mm in diameter. This measurement is commonplace for fiber optic cables used globally, indicating potential for widespread adoption on account of its compatibility with current community infrastructure, like undersea cables.

“The analysis of ultra-high-capacity transmission utilizing coupled 19-core optical fibers and superior optical amplification has tremendously superior the event of expertise for the belief of high-capacity, long-distance optical communication infrastructure sooner or later,” the NICT report states.

This is not the primary time the NICT has damaged a report both. Final yr, it shattered the web pace report with a pace of fifty,250 GB/s. Now in 2025, it has damaged its report by over double.

With the worldwide demand for greater web bandwidth rising — particularly for cloud storage, AI, and high-quality streaming — the NICT’s breakthrough marks an important step in addressing the rising want for extra bandwidth. In accordance with Nielsen’s Law, international bandwidth calls for have elevated by 50 p.c yearly since 1983, indicating that in the future, 1.02 petabits per second could also be wanted.

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