A team at the University College London say they have broken the broadband speed record with a mind-boggling 178 terabits per second transmission. That’s fast enough to download the entire 100TB Netflix catalog in about 4 seconds.

The technology is called “ultra broadband” and will be the basis of the next generation Internet required by data-hungry 5G technology. It was set by transmitting amplified data in a greater range of colors than typically used in fiber optic cable. The test was run in a 25-mile fiber optic loop around a Bloomsbury laboratory. Previously it was believed the theoretical limit of fiber optic transmission had been reached but researchers found a way past this limit by increasing the range of wavelengths and colors used.

If the technology were deployed commercially, it would require an amplifier for every 25 miles of cable. Still, it’s about 3 million times faster than the average 64mbps broadband connection which will be important for future technology such as driverless cars and smart cities and homes. According to UK’s Evening Standard, University College London said:

“This new speed is so great that this connection would take under an hour to download scientific data from the world’s first image of a black hole in space, taken using a global network of telescopes, which needed to be stored on half a ton of computer hard drives.”
Evening Standard – standard.co.uk

Next up, UCL researchers say they will work to increase the distance the speeds can operate under with fewer amplifiers.