how do lasers make the internet faster?

Question: how do lasers make the internet faster?
- Keywords:
  internet,
  laser,
  speed
Asked by sinead8 to Padraic on 31 Jan 2015. This question was also asked by freddo, Marragh, Ocean.
- Padraic Morrissey answered on 31 Jan 2015:
  
  Hi Sinead!
  When the internet first came out, electrical cables were used to connect everyone to the internet. These electrical connections were slow, which meant that only small amounts of information could be sent from one computer to another, so it took ages for videos to load! Nowadays, we use something called optical fibre to send information. With optical fibre, a laser is used to put information onto a beam of light which is then sent all around the world at really high speeds. The faster we can make lasers operate, the more information we get to send at any one time. In my job I design these high speed lasers and figure out how we can get even more information onto them. That way everyone will have fast internet!
  
  Let me know if you want more info!

Question: how do lasers make the internet faster?