Google working on 10 gigabit Internet speeds

Project to develop 'next generation' of the Internet is part of Google's broader obsession with speed, CFO says

Google is working on technology that will provide data transfer speeds over the Internet that are many times faster than its current Google Fiber service in Kansas City, an executive at the online search giant said on Wednesday.

Google Fiber offers data transfer speeds of 1 gigabit per second currently. But the company is already working on speeds of 10 gigabits per second, Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference.

Pichette called this the next generation of the Internet and said it was part of Google's broader, long-term obsession with speed.

Faster speeds will increase the use of software as a service because users will be able to trust that critical applications that are data intensive will run smoothly over the Internet, he explained.

"That's where the world is going. It's going to happen," Pichette said. It may happen over a decade, but "why wouldn't we make it available in three years? That's what we're working on. There's no need to wait," he added.

Google is not the only one working on this. Last year, researchers in the U.K. announced that they achieved data transmission speeds of 10 gigabits per second using "li-fi" a wireless Internet connectivity technology that uses light.