Tyndall National Institute and BT are focused on finding solutions that will enable more information to be sent over greater distances to meet the current bandwidth challenge.

Considering that YouTube now uses the same bandwidth capacity that the whole of the Internet used in 2001, and that other bandwidth-hungry services such as high-definition TV and video on demand are on the increase, it is estimated that network traffic will multiply one hundred-fold by 2018.

“Our researchers are working on sophisticated technologies that will enable the next-generation of telecom networks to deliver information at significantly higher speed and lower cost than is possible today”, said Prof Paul Townsend, Head of Photonics at Tyndall.

Welcoming the collaboration, Dr Jimmy Devins, Minister of State for Science Technology and Innovation, said:

“Projects such as the BT/Tyndall Research Collaboration justify the Government’s investment under the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.

"Cutting edge research of this quality will enable Ireland to continue to compete on the global stage; and the development and diffusion of such expertise will ensure that it remains a compelling location for inward investment in the high technology sector, which is essential for our future prosperity,” Minister Devins continued.

Dr. Andrew Ellis, Head of Transmission and Sensors Group at Tyndall, said the extensive network provided by BT allowed them to "validate the technologies we have developed".

"Equally importantly," he said, "the collaboration can confirm our belief that lower-cost, flexible, energy-efficient networks have real commercial benefits."

Tyndall was set up in 2004 as a joint initiative between the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and University College Cork. Its objectives are:

• to create a research institute that will become a focal point of Information and Communications Technology in Ireland,
• to support industry and academia nationally,
• to increase the number of qualified graduate students for the ‘knowledge economy’.

Photonics is one of the fastest growing high-tech industries and a natural area of interest for BT as it continues to innovate and explore the potential of optical networks.

"For Tyndall, this invaluable collaboration with BT represents a model that we would like to employ with other Irish companies as part of our innovation strategy”, said Prof Roger Whatmore, CEO Tyndall.