A game-changing technological breakthrough has emerged from Beijing, where Chinese companies have inaugurated what they term the world’s most advanced and fastest internet network, boasting a data transfer rate of 1.2 terabits per second (1,200 gigabits per second).
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), China Mobile, Huawei Technologies, and Cernet Corporation presented the network, which is touted to be fast enough to transfer data from 150 movies in one second.
“Ten times faster”
The so-called ‘backbone network’ spans over 3,000 kilometers of optical fiber cabling and runs through important Chinese cities such as the capital Beijing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou, and can transport data at speeds up to ten times faster than existing major routes.
Although the cables were activated in July, they were officially launched on Monday (November 13) after their performance was considered reliable and all operational tests were passed.
It is worth noting that the network has a speed of 1,200 gigabits per second, while most major internet networks throughout the world only have a speed of 100 gigabits per second. While the United States just completed the switch to its fifth-generation Internet with speeds of 400 gigabits per second,
Huawei and China Mobile have officially inaugurated the next-generation backbone network, which was developed in collaboration with Tsinghua University in Beijing and Cernet. The Chinese government is said to be funding the education and research network.
The network is expected to play a critical role in China’s decade-long Future Internet Technology Infrastructure project.
In terms of speed, Tsinghua University’s Xu Mingwei compared the new internet backbone to a superfast rail track that replaced the ten conventional tracks that previously carried the same amount of data, resulting in a more cost-effective and manageable system, according to the SCMP.
President Xi Jinping earlier stated that the building of the backbone network would help the country establish itself as a “a cyber power” and “accelerate the promotion of core Internet technologies,” reported CNN citing a statement by the Chinese tech manufacturer Huawei.
The corporation did not specify whether the network would be expanded to include the rest of the country.
Not for customers
According to the SCMP, Huawei Technologies vice president Wang Lei stated at a press conference at Tsinghua University on Monday that the network was “capable of transferring the data equivalent of 150 high-definition films in just one second.”
However, despite the example, it will not be available to the general public or even applicable to home internet speeds.
While the ‘world’s fastest internet’ has far-reaching ramifications for businesses, speedier data transfers, and even national security, it does not relate to consumers’ homes but rather to internet infrastructure.