Hyuck Choo seems to think that it can be put to use in short order in the medical field, but it remains to be seen if we'll see this in the next wave of Google Fiber rollouts.

ENGADGET: Caltech invention focuses light like never before, could bolster next-gen communication platforms

Thanks to an engineer's trick called "wave division multiplexing, " a single fiber-optic thread can carry upwards of 10 trillion bits per second.

FORBES: Digital Rules

Since then such "wave division multiplexers" have steadily increased the number of wavelengths per fiber and the capacity carried on each.

FORBES: Hooked on photonics