With the news fresh out of CERN in Geneva that the Particles Physics Lab has again created a means of fast and inclusive communication 20 years after Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet are we poised on the brink of a evolutionary new means of instantaneous communication?

The GRID could just be the quantum leap we have been waiting for to harnass the ultimate power of total interconnectivity allowing instant online gaming, the long awaited video telephony and instant film downloads in seconds because the whole process will be 10,000 times faster than current data transfer speeds and probably at the price of a local telephone call.

Already being used in parallel with the Hadron collider it is being tested to evaluate its full potential and currently is interconnected to 11 centres around the world with linked hubs to research institutes in each country. In total 8,000 servers currently constitute the GRID and all running on fibre optic links.

Realistically the GRID's processing power is going to be fully mapped out for years doing research but, as with the original internet objectvies, these were soon overtaken by global demand for better communications.

Meanwhile, major telecoms companies are working on similar ambitions using dynamic switching which will enable users to download large chunks of data at breakneck speed so, the driving force now just needs to overcome the immovable object. The Copper wire to your door, if they find away to utilise that, or reduce the cost of recabling?

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