An international team that included scientists from Aston University in Birmingham set the new record of 301 terabits per second – the equivalent of 9,000 HD films – using a standard optical fibre.

At this speed, it would take just one minute to download every single movie listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

For comparison, the average broadband speed in the UK is 69.4 megabits per second, according to an Ofcom performance report from last September.

The record-breaking data transmission rate was achieved by developing a new optical processing device that opened up new wavelength bands that have not been previously used in fibre optic systems.

With consumer demand for faster internet speeds constantly increasing, the researchers believe their new technology could be used to help internet service providers meet it.

The ability to increase speeds without deploying new fibres and cables also makes it a greener way to upgrade commercial internet speeds.

The research was published by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and presented at the European Conference on Optical Communication (EOCC).

According to the independent