Researchers at Dept. of Electrical Engineering in University College London led by L. Galdino, W. Yi, E. Sillekens, T. Gerard, D. Lavery et al. working under the Royal Society Research Grant have set a new record speed for wired internet communication on the optical fiber infrastructure using the technique of capacity maximization via continuous bandwidth amplification and geometric shaping.
Currently, Internet speeds established are 74 Tbit/s over 6300 km was achieved using a hybrid distributed Raman/EDFA on trans-Atlantic (> 6000 km) and trans-Pacific (> 9000 km) record data rates to date have been reached. Extending the transmission bandwidth to S-band wavelengths resulted in the highest single mode fibre capacity experimentally shown to date of 150.3 Tbit/s, transmitted over 40 km.
The new record internet speed is 18% higher at 178.08 Tbit/s and how this was made possible is as below,
In the current work, record speed was achieved on a single core, single mode optical fibre, using a continuous, ultra-wideband (16.83 THz) transmission window. The latter was enabled using hybrid discrete Raman / doped fibre amplification, together with pilot-based DSP, allowed the use of SNR-tailored geometric constellation shaping. The geometric shaping accounted for approximately 9.5 Tbit/s increase with the overall throughput of 178.08 Tbit/s.
Surely a disruptive way to play with the physics of optical fiber beaming to carry massive Internet Packets in already existing fiber channels. Congratulations to the team at UCL, London.
Now coming back to Bharat Broadband Katha, about only 30% of incumbent Telcos (excluding Jio) have OFC back haul while the global Telcos operate with 70% reliance on OFC. With 4G (Wireless) and FTTH (Wired) being the new normal to access Internet, Telcos have no choice but to upgrade their infrastructure.
Speaking specifically about Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio, the disruptor of Internet services in India, has about ~1 to 1.1 million FTTH connections (mere 6% of Total Wired Broadband subscribers in India) and a whopping 390 Mn Jio 4G Subscribers. Jio has already rolled out a massive 700,000 Km of OFC and is scaling it to reach 1,000,000 Km as Data experience of 5G can only be achieved with an OFC backhaul.
With this backdrop and Ambani himself having declared that Data is the new Oil, ambitions galore for Reliance Jio. Can you guess what could be Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Data Law ? On the lines of computing power expressed by Intel’s Moore, Ambani’s Jio Data Law for a market like India will be, Jio’s Data Bandwidth Offering to Consumer will Double every 24 Months. Price either remains constant or the hike tied to Inflation [ Speeds as defined by 4G, FTTH standards. My guesstimate 😉 ]
The fate of Indian Telecommunication companies is dependent on new and disruptive business models and efficient capital utilization. Telcos would focus on building much needed and monetisable infrastructure like capacity augmentation in high potential markets, fiber broadband and enterprise offerings. They will leverage on the technological changes and layer this capacity on their existing telecom infrastructure. Each telco would aim to build upon its niche strengths, like Airtel in triple play (Voice, FTTH and DTH) and Vodafone Idea in enterprise connectivity. This is very different from 3G deployment where the entire industry was chasing the same revenue stream and also none of them could scale as visible today.
Resuming Light Coverage: Was away for ~3 years as I had accepted an assignment in an IoT Lab. External assignment will continue but coverage on Important Internet, 5G & Spectrum Topics will be covered.