NTT Develops Faster Optic-Fiber Technology

TOKYO, June 11 -- Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) has developed a communications technology that will allow Internet users to download a two-hour movie in about half a minute, according to a June 9 Reuter's article that cited the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.

"The new optic-fiber technology will increase communication speeds to one gigabyte per second, up from 100 megabytes per second now available for homes and offices," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun article said.

The technology developed by NTT, Japan's largest telecoms operator, will make the downloading of movies and games from the Internet easier and give access to faster communications at a low cost, Nihon Keizai said in its report, which did not quote specific sources.

The faster communication speed would mean that a two-hour-long piece of video footage could be sent or received in 30 seconds, rather than around seven minutes using the speed available now, the newspaper said. Reuters said NTT officials could not immediately be reached for comment.