This makes it a million times faster than what is commercially available in Australia at the moment, where the average download speed is at 43.4Mbps. This was achieved by using a “micro comb” optical chip that contains hundreds of infrared lasers to transfer data, and the best part is that it was also accomplished using existing communications infrastructure in the country, meaning that the researchers did not have to rely on a specialized infrastructure.
It would also seem to hint that in the future, the existing infrastructure that has already been put into place could be leveraged to boost internet speeds without having to overhaul the entire system. Speaking to The Independent, Dr Bill Corcoran from Monash University said, “There’s a bit of a global race on at the moment to get this technology to a commercial stage, as the micro-comb at its heart is useful in a really broad range of existing technologies.”
Corcoran also notes that it is possible that in about five years, the technology they used to achieve those speeds could become commercially available. “I’d guess that we could see devices like ours available to research labs in two to three years, and initial commercial use in about five years.”