News for and about the Internet2 community

INDIANA UNIVERSITY ACQUIRES FIRST INTER-CITY SEGMENT OF DARK FIBER THROUGH 
FIBERCO

ANN ARBOR, MI – January 12, 2004 – Today, FiberCo(tm), a fiber holding 
company 
supporting U.S. research and higher education, announced that Indiana 
University has become the first assignee of FiberCo optical networking assets 
through the acquisition of a pair of dark fiber between Indianapolis, Ind. 
and 
Chicago, Ill.  Internet2(r), a consortium of 205 universities working with 
government and industry to develop and deploy advanced networking 
technologies, established FiberCo last year to provide a means for acquiring, 
holding, and assigning dark fiber assets on both the national and the 
regional 
scales and on behalf of the higher education community.

Indiana University intends to use this dark fiber pair to light two 10 
Gigabit-
per-second (Gbps) circuits to connect the IP-Grid, a collaboration between 
Indiana University and Purdue University, to the National Science Foundation-
supported Extensible Terascale Facility (ETF) in Chicago.  The fiber also 
will 
support the universities’ connection to the new National LambdaRail facility 
and ultimately other connection services to Chicago.  In addition, the 
assigned fiber will enable additional Chicago-based peering connections for 
the two Indiana research institutions.

“FiberCo is helping our institutions reach goals in support of continued 
excellence in research, teaching, outreach and lifelong learning,” said 
Michael McRobbie, vice president for Information Technology and CIO and vice 
president of Research for Indiana University.  “The fiber will guarantee our 
researchers, faculty and students better access to advanced networking 
technologies and collaboration.”

Indiana University has obtained the dark fiber from FiberCo under an 
assignment agreement finalized earlier this month.  This effort builds on the 
existing I-Light project, which has connected the core Indiana and Purdue 
research campuses via dark fiber using a hub in Indianapolis.

“We’re pleased to recognize Indiana University as the first FiberCo assignee 
in light of Indiana’s now well established commitment to advanced networking 
leadership within the research and higher education community,” said Steve 
Corbató, director of backbone network infrastructure for Internet2 and the 
organizational lead for FiberCo.  “The rapid progress made in concluding this 
initial agreement gives us confidence that future assignments will proceed as 
smoothly as this one, thus aiding our goal of aiding the deployment of 
regional optical networks around the country.”

Under an agreement with Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT), FiberCo 
has the ability to provision both from an initial allocation of over 2,600 
route miles and from future acquisitions of dark fiber on Level 3’s national 
footprint.  FiberCo’s nationally aggregated approach enabled streamlined 
agreements and lower costs for acquiring the fiber as well as for ongoing 
costs of fiber maintenance and equipment co-location.

“Through FiberCo, Level 3 will continue its support of the efforts the 
research and education communities are making to advanced networking,” said 
Geoff Jordan, vice president for Level 3.  “We look forward to continuing to 
work with the advanced networking community to provide the critical services 
needed to research and higher educational institutions across the country.”

# # #

About Indiana University
Indiana University is one of the oldest state universities in the Midwest and 
also one of the largest universities in the United States, with more than 
110,000 students, faculty, and staff on eight campuses.  IU has a growing 
national and international reputation in the areas of information technology 
and advanced networking.  IU’s extensive information technology environment 
is 
made up of high performance computing resources, facilities for massive data 
storage, and advanced visualization laboratories that enable leading 
scientists to visualize, analyze, and store vast amounts of data and 
information.

About FiberCo(tm)
FiberCo(tm) provides a means for acquiring, holding, and assigning fiber 
optic 
network assets in support of the Internet2 community’s goals of developing 
and 
deploying advanced network applications and technologies.  FiberCo 
facilitates 
the ongoing development of regional optical networking initiatives around the 
country to complement existing Internet2 network infrastructure while 
providing a strategic fiber acquisition capability on the national scale.  
For 
more information, visit: www.fiberco.org.

About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 (Nasdaq:LVLT) is an international communications and information 
services company.  The company operates one of the largest Internet backbones 
in the world, is one of the largest providers of wholesale dial-up service to 
ISPs in North America and is the primary provider of Internet connectivity 
for 
millions of broadband subscribers, through its cable and DSL partners.  The 
company offers a wide range of communications services over its 22,500-mile 
broadband fiber optic network including Internet Protocol (IP) services, 
broadband transport and infrastructure services, collocation services, and 
patented Softswitch managed modem and voice services.  Its Web address is 
www.Level3.com.

Contact:
Michelle Pollak
Internet2
(202) 331-5345



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