Currently the highest communication capacity of optical fiber cables

The current highest communication capacity achieved in optical fiber is 1.02 petabits per second over 1,808 kilometers using a 19-core optical fiber.Record-Breaking TransmissionAn international resear...

Currently the highest communication capacity of optical fiber cables

The current highest communication capacity achieved in optical fiber is 1.02 petabits per second over 1,808 kilometers using a 19-core optical fiber.

Record-Breaking Transmission

An international research team led by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan, in collaboration with Sumitomo Electric and several universities, set a new world record by transmitting 1.02 petabits per second (Pbps) over a distance of 1,808 km using a specially designed 19-core optical fiber with a standard 0.125 mm cladding diameter, compatible with existing fiber infrastructure (NICT, 2025) . This achievement represents the fastest long-distance transmission ever recorded in optical fiber.

Technology Behind the Record

  • Multi-core fiber: The 19-core fiber allows multiple independent light paths within a single cladding, multiplying the data rate without increasing the fiber diameter.
  • Low-loss across multiple wavelength bands: Optimized core arrangement reduces signal attenuation in both C-band and L-band wavelengths.
  • Optical amplification system: A novel amplification relay was developed to simultaneously boost signals from all 19 cores, enabling long-distance transmission without significant signal degradation.
  • Capacity-distance product: The experiment achieved a 1.86 exabits per second × km, the highest ever recorded, demonstrating both high capacity and long-distance capability.

Context and Comparison

  • Previous high-capacity experiments using 19-core fibers achieved 1.7 Pbps but only over 63.5 km, highlighting the significance of extending the distance to nearly 1,800 km (NICT, 2025) .
  • Other research has achieved hundreds of terabits per second over shorter distances (e.g., 378.9 Tbps over 50 km using multiband wavelength-division multiplexing) .
  • Commercial submarine cables typically operate at 20 Tbps per fiber pair, while high-performance data centers use 100–400 Gbps per channel, showing that experimental capacities far exceed current commercial deployments .

Implications

This breakthrough demonstrates the potential for scalable, ultra-high-capacity networks capable of meeting the growing global demand for data. The combination of multi-core fibers, low-loss design, and advanced optical amplification paves the way for future long-haul, petabit-scale optical communication systems.

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