Verizon has completed testing of technology that could see the company begin offering Internet data speeds of up to a massive 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). That's 10 times faster that what Google Fiber offers and 1,000 times faster than the Internet connections that many U.S. homes have.
The new technology basically works by "adding new colors of light" to the fiber optic cable network that Verizon already runs.
"The advantage of our FiOS network is that it can be upgraded easily by adding electronics onto the fiber network that is already in place," said Lee Hicks, Verizon vice president of network technology, in a statement. "Deploying this exciting new technology sets a new standard for the broadband industry and further validates our strategic choice of fiber-to-the-premises."
Verizon said this technology could one day be manipulated to offer data speeds of up to a massive 80 Gbps.
Fiber optic technology is currently the most accurate and fastest way to transmit data over long distances. This is the reason why companies like Google and Comcast have begun trying to vastly improve and expand their fiber optic offerings. In fact, just last week Google announced that it was expanding Fiber into San Antonio.
If Verizon does end up offering data speeds of 10 Gbps, it would be the fastest Internet offering in the country, with Comcast taking that title when it started offering 2 Gbps Internet last month.
Verizon completed the testing in a lab and over three miles between a Verizon office and business in Massachusetts, spanning three miles total. Of course, implementing the technology that offers 10 Gbps data speeds is vastly different than successfully testing it in a lab. Once implemented, those speeds may be lower than Verizon was able to achieve so far.
It's also important to note that Verizon doesn't plan on investing in the hardware and software needed for the network until later this year. Its target market will initially be businesses.
While it might not seem like data speeds this high are necessary, as time goes on and technology advances, apps and websites become more data-hungry, needing faster connections to load at a reasonable pace. Not only that, but as our homes become increasingly connected, there will be more devices taking up bandwidth, making faster data connections handy. It will also be nice to have these data speeds as things like videos become heavier with the advent of 4K, and, eventually, 8K video technology.
