News for and about the Internet2 community

[Greg Wood <>]

FIRST 10 GIGABIT CONNECTION FROM US TO EUROPE DEDICATED TO RESEARCH AND
EDUCATION TO BE INAUGURATED AT iGrid2002

HDTV and other high bandwidth applications supported

Amsterdam, Netherlands - September 19, 2002 – The first long-term, 
trans-Atlantic 10 gigabit per second wavelength circuit dedicated to
research and education, provided by Tyco Telecommunications to the
Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation (IEEAF), and provisioned
from the US to Europe through the efforts of Internet2 and SURFnet, will
be inaugurated at iGrid2002 with a demonstration of uncompressed HDTV
over IP sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Gigapop and the Research Channel.

The connection is provided as part of a long-term commitment by Tyco
Telecommunications to the research networking community through an
agreement with the non-profit organization IEEAF. Internet2, the
consortium led by US universities focused on accelerating the
development of the Internet, and SURFnet, the Dutch national research
network and hosts of iGrid2002, have put the 10 gigabit per second
circuit into operation between their networks in New York and Amsterdam.

The trans-Atlantic connection was established in time to support
iGrid2002, the biennial International Grid applications-driven testbed
event being held this week in Amsterdam. iGrid2002 showcases how extreme
networks, combined with application advancements and middleware
innovations, can advance scientific research.  One of many applications
showcased, the 1.5 Gbps uncompressed HDTV stream from Seattle to
Amsterdam used the new Tyco Telecommunications link.

The 10 Gbps connection is made possible by a five-year commitment by
Tyco Telecommunications to the IEEAF, a non profit organization whose
mission is to realize the opportunities in the global telecommunications
marketplace on behalf of the research and education community. "Our goal
is to enable the 'Global Quilt,'" says IEEAF Board Chair Don Riley, VP
and CIO, University of Maryland.  Tyco Telecommunications has also
provided a companion 622 Mbps packet over SONET (POS) circuit to the IEEAF.

Geographic Network Affiliates International (GEO), which has played a
pivotal role in the Tyco Telecommunications donation to the IEEAF, will
be present at iGrid2002 promoting the Global Medical Research Exchange
(GMRE) initiative, a worldwide application that exemplifies the
collaborative capabilities of the Grid for high bandwidth utilization of
IP for medical purposes.

The Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation (IEEAF) is a non-profit
organization whose mission is to obtain donations of telecommunications
capacity and equipment and make them available for use by the global
research and education community. Through partnerships and alliances
between government, private sector entities, educational institutions
and other non-profit organizations, IEEAF fosters global educational
collaboration and equitable access to network resources: the "Global
Quilt."  IEEAF’s member institutions include the Corporation for
Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC – represented by
California State University at Hayward, California Politechnic
University at San Luis Obispo, and University of Southern California),
the Pacific Northwest Gigapop (represented by University of Washington),
the Pacific Internet2 Coalition (represented by University of Hawaii),
the University of Maryland, the University Corporation for Advanced
Internet Development (UCAID), Indiana University, and Geographic Network
Affilites, Inc (GEO). For more information about IEEAF, visit www.ieeaf.org.

Tyco Telecommunications (a Tyco Electronics Company), Morristown, New
Jersey is one of the world’s largest providers of advanced broadband
communications solutions.  The company is deploying and selling secure
city-to-city capacity and colocation and data center services on it’s
global fiber optic network - TGN.  Their portfolio of network services
ranges from international city-to-city broadband capacity, to colocation
and data center services.  They also are the world’s only fully
integrated supplier of transoceanic optical networks.  For more
information on Tyco Telecommunications and TGN contact Andy Kowalik at
973-656-8331, or visit the Tyco Telecommunications Web Site at:
www.tycotelecom.com.  Tyco Electronics is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC; LSE: TYI; BSX: TYC).

SURFnet operates and innovates the Dutch national research network, to
which over 150 institutions in higher education and research in the
Netherlands are connected. To remain in the lead SURFnet puts in a
sustained effort to improve the infrastructure and to develop new
applications to give users faster and better access to new Internet
services. SURFnet is partner in GigaPort, a project of the Dutch
government, trade and industry, educational institutions and research
institutes, which aims to give the Netherlands a head start in the
development and use of advanced and innovative Internet technology.
Within GigaPort the advanced optical infrastructure NetherLight was
established, which is used by researchers to investigate novel concepts
of optical bandwidth provisioning and to gain experience with these new
techniques. For more information, see: www.surfnet.nl/en and www.gigaport.nl

Led by 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government,
Internet2 is developing and deploying advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the
creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships
among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today's
Internet in its infancy. For more information about Internet2, see:
www.internet2.edu

ResearchChannel is a collaborative partnership of research universities
and centers dedicated to broadening the access to, and appreciation of,
our individual and collective activities, ideas, and opportunities in
basic and applied research. ResearchChannel uses content, content
creation, and manipulation processes as a workbench to test materials
for our future analog and digital broadcast and on-demand multimedia
offerings, thus providing an unusual opportunity to experiment with new
methods of distribution and interaction on a global basis.
ResearchChannel distributes research information 24x7 via satellite,
direct-broadcast satellite (EchoStar's DISH Network), cable TV, webcast,
on-demand library. For more information, see: www.researchchannel.org.

Pacific Northwest Gigapop is the Northwest's Next Generation Internet,
Internet2/Abilene applications cooperative, testbed, point of presence,
and home to the Pacific Wave International Peering Service. PNWGP and
Pacific Wave connect together high-performance international and federal
research networks with universities, research organizations, and
leading-edge r&d and new-media enterprises throughout Washington,
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Canada, Australia, and Japan. For more
information, visit www.pnwgp.org


Contacts:
IEEAF
Don Riley, 301/405-7700


GEO
Don Benton, 203/324-8803 ext. 7909


Tyco Telecom
Andy Kowalik, 973/656-8331


SURFnet
Sandra Passchier, +31 30-2305 305


Internet2
Greg Wood, 202/331-5360


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