News

Japan Sets New Record For Data Transmission Speed

The researchers have absolutely smashed their own previous achievement by transmitting data at a jaw-dropping 1.02 petabits per second.

Published

4 years ago

June 11, 2022

David Morelo

japan sets new record for data transmission speed

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A team of researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan is at it again. After achieving a data transmission speed of 319 terabits per second (Tb/s) last year, the researchers have now absolutely smashed their own previous achievement by transmitting data at 1.02 petabits per second (Pb/s).

Since 1 petabits is 125,000 gigabytes, it means that the team could theoretically transmit more than 31,000 movies in 4K resolution every single second. To make the record even more impressive, it’s important to highlight that it was achieved using fiber-optic cables with four cores, which is exactly how many cores were used to set the previous record.

“NICT constructed the transmission system using 4-core MCF with standard 0.125 mm cladding diameter, WDM technology and mixed optical amplification systems. The system allowed a data transmission speed of 1.02 petabit per second over 51.7 km,” explained the researchers in the official press release.

data transmission chart

The mind-blowing record was first presented in May at the International Conference on Laser and Electro-Optics (CLEO) 2022 in San Jose, California, one of the largest international conferences related to optical devices and systems.

Also Read: Microsoft Blocks Lebanon-Based Hackers Targeting Israel

Moving forward, the NICT team wants to continue exploring different ways to transmit data faster across fiber optic cables. Their main focus is on low-core-count multi-core fibers with standard cladding diameter because such cables are comparable to standard single-mode fibers and thus more attractive for early adoption.

With dozens of countries around the world actively moving from 4G to 5G broadband cellular networks, the massive amount of data being sent and received is guaranteed to continue increasing at a rapid pace. Research projects such as the one behind the latest record can pave the way for new fibers capable of meeting the growing demand and supporting new bandwidth-hungry services.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.