Under my road, like many others, is the cable my entire digital world depends on. Fiber optic cables are becoming the standard for modern high-speed Internet connections, but even this superhighway of speed has its capacity limitations. But thanks to the work of British researchers, that same cable may soon be able to offer connection speeds much faster than those we currently rely on.

A team of scientists and researchers at Aston University has developed an optical processor that utilizes a previously unused frequency band, allowing standard fiber optic cables to transfer data much faster than previously thought possible (via Fudzilla). The researchers succeeded in achieving data transfer rates of up to 301 terabits per second over standard fiber-optic cables, pointing to the possibility of a future that could achieve connection speeds in the home that were previously thought to be unfeasible, without changing the cables already in place.

As of last year, the average broadband speed in the UK was said to be 69.4 Mbps (megabits per second), while in the US the median speed was announced as 242.38 Mbps in February of this year. 301 terabits per second is equivalent to an astounding 301,000,000 Mbps, This new speed is approximately 4.5 million times the average connection speed in the UK and 1.2 million times the average connection speed in the US.

Currently, fiber cables utilize the "C" and "L" bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. The new optical processor, however, will utilize the previously unused "E" and "S" bands, tapping into vast amounts of previously unused capacity. [Dr. Ian Phillips, the processor's developer, said: "Over the last few years, Aston University has been developing optical amplifiers that operate in the E band, which is adjacent to the C band of the electromagnetic spectrum, but about three times wider. Until our device was developed, no one had been able to properly emulate the E-band channel in a controlled manner."

Professor Wladek Forysiak, a member of the team developing the new technology, added, "This breakthrough highlights the important role that advances in optical fiber technology will play in revolutionizing communication networks for faster and more reliable data transmission."

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." It is also a "greener solution" than deploying more and newer fiber and cable because it makes better use of existing fiber networks, increases data transmission capacity, and outlasts their useful life and commercial value."

Anything to prevent my street from being dug up any further is fine by me. In a world where high-speed data streaming has become a necessity for many in everyday life rather than a luxury, the ability to achieve enormous levels of speed increases without major disruption is an innovation worth shouting about.