South Korea to Get Super High-Speed Broadband

Artwork: Chip Taylor

Internet users in South Korea soon may be able to download a movie in just two seconds, if a new high-speed Internet project moves forward as planned. South Korea plans to build a super broadband infrastructure with upload and download speeds of 1 Gbps by 2013. The project will cost about 24.5 billion dollars, and will largely be funded by the private sector, according to the Agence France Presse.

Officials with the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) say this will make it possible to download a movie in about 1-2 seconds through a fiber optic cable. Some dispute that estimate, however, and believe the download time will be closer to an insufferable 12 seconds for a feature length film.