Stalling speeds in core networks: Revisiting Keck's law

With every passing year since the mid 1970s, we see a large increase in the data rates in the core networks. That is mainly driven by the improved techniques to carry data in the optical fibers. The speed of communication or the data rates in the fiber kept on increasing for almost 40 years. That trend of increase in data rates is commonly known as Keck's law. Like Moore's law, fiber data rates have followed an exponential growth as defined in the Keck's law. However, now this law has started to lose its track from the reality of current increasing trend. In this article, we go through Keck's law, its physical basis, its predictable years and how it is now going away from the reality.