University of Sydney scientists say they have developed a new technology that could make Internet 60 times faster and give users unlimited, error-free access anywhere in the world. And all this at no extra cost.

Lead researcher Ben Eggleton while making the announcement said, initial testing of the technology showed it was possible to achieve Internet speeds 60 times faster than the current Telstra network. But if developed further, the circuit could reach speeds 100 times faster, he added.

The scientists have claimed that this 'small scratch on a piece of glass' is a critical building block and a fundamental advance on what is already out there.

"The scratched glass we have developed is actually a Photonic Integrated Circuit. This circuit uses the 'scratch' as a guide or a switching path for information -- kind of like when trains are switched from one track to another -- except this switch takes only one picosecond to change tracks.

"This means that in one second the switch is turning on and off about one million times. We are talking about photonic technology that has terabit per second capacity," Eggleton explained.

"Currently we use electronics for our switching and that has been OK but as we move toward a more tech-savvy future there's demand for instant Web gratification. Photonic technology delivers what's needed and, importantly, what is wanted," he said.

The University of Sydney has developed the scratch in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark and with financial support from Australian Research Council.