David Willetts,
Minister for Universities and Science, today announced £7.2
million of investment that could revolutionise the internet.
The six-year ‘Photonics HyperHighway’ project will bring together
world-leading scientists from the University of Southampton and
the University of Essex with industry partners, including BBC
Research and Development, to pioneer new technologies that could
make broadband internet 100 times faster.
The project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC), will look at the way fibre optics are
used, and develop new materials and devices to increase internet
bandwidth. This will ensure that the web can cope with more
broadband subscribers and the increasing use of services such as
internet television and music downloads.
These breakthroughs would also bring improvements to many
industries including retail and banking, which would both benefit
from faster transaction times.
Announcing the investment during a visit to officially open the
University of Southampton’s award-winning Mountbatten Building,
where much of the research will be conducted, Minister for
Universities and Science David Willetts said:
“The internet is fundamental to our lives and we use it for a
huge range of activities - from doing the weekly food shop to
catching up with friends and family. The number of broadband
subscribers has grown vastly in the past ten years, and we need to
ensure the web infrastructure can continue to meet this demand.
“On top of this, the internet industry is worth an estimated £100
billion in the UK, so it is in our interest to make it even better
for businesses and help boost economic growth.
“The Photonics HyperHighway project has the potential to truly
revolutionise the internet, making it much faster and more
energy-efficient. The project is also a shining example of the
UK’s world-leading role in this area of research, and I look
forward to the exciting breakthroughs it will bring.”
Professor David Payne, of the University of Southampton, who is
leading the Photonics HyperHighway project, said:
“Now is the time to look ahead to develop the UK infrastructure
of the future. Our ambition is nothing less than to rebuild the
internet hardware to suit it to the needs of 21st-century Britain.
“Traffic on the global communications infrastructure continues to
increase 80 per cent year-on-year. This is driven by rapidly
expanding and increasingly demanding applications, such as
internet television services and new concepts like cloud
computing. What this project proposes is a radical transformation
of the physical infrastructure that underpins these networks.”
Over the past 25 years, optical fibres have revolutionised
communications, transmitting more information over greater
distances than could ever have been achieved with copper wires.
Through looking at every detail of the infrastructure that
underpins the internet, the Photonics HyperHighway project has the
potential to achieve seamless, ultra-fast connections that will
link people and business across the world.
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2) The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
is the UK’s main agency for funding research in engineering and
physical sciences. EPSRC invests around £850m a year in research
and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next
generation of technological change.
3) The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and
research institution with a global reputation for research and
scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering,
science, social sciences, health, arts and humanities.
4) The University of Essex is one of the UK's leading
academic institutions and in the top ten universities in the UK
for teaching and research. Since opening in 1964, the University
has grown in both reputation and size, developing a worldwide
reputation for top quality teaching and research. There are now
more than 10,000 students, studying at three campuses across
Essex. Academic departments span the humanities, social sciences,
science and engineering, and law and management.
5) The Photonics HyperHighway project’s industry partners are BBC
Research and Development (www.bbc.co.uk/rd), Fianium (www.fianium.com/) and Oclaro
(www.oclaro.com).
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Sally Catmull
Phone: 020 7215 6577
sally.catmull@bis.gsi.gov.uk