It’s believed to be the fastest speed test of its kind, and would allow users to hypothetically download 44 high-definition films in a single second. Downloading the entire English version of Wikipedia would take just 0.006s.

A joint research team from French telecoms company Alcatel-Lucent and BT created the connection using an existing 410km-stretch of fibre optic cable between BT Tower in London and a BT research campus in Suffolk.

Using a new protocol named Flexigrid the researchers were able to overlay several transmission channels over the same connection. The resulting ‘Alien Super Channel’ was comprised of seven 200 gigabit per second connections, increasing transmission efficiency by 42.5 per cent when compared to previous efforts.

The researchers' use of existing hardware is integral, as it will allow telecoms companies to meet the UK’s ever-increasing demand for faster internet speeds without having to replacing existing optical fibres.