News for and about the Internet2 community

[Greg Wood <>]

Contact:
Greg Wood,Internet2
(202) 331-5360


UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ACQUIRES DARK FIBER THROUGH FIBERCO

ANN ARBOR, MI – June 9, 2004 – FiberCo(tm), a fiber holding company
supporting U.S. research and higher education, today announced that the
University of Wyoming has been assigned a pair of dark fiber on the
Level 3 Communications, Inc. national fiber footprint between Laramie,
Wyo., and Denver, Colo.  This acquisition of dark fiber will enable new
forms of optical networking and research capabilities that were
previously unimaginable due to Laramie’s remoteness from major
telecommunications centers.  Established last year by Internet2(R), a
consortium of 206 universities working with government and industry to
develop and deploy advanced networking technologies, FiberCo provides 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.

The University of Wyoming opted to work with FiberCo since its aggregate
dark-fiber acquisition capability enables new networks to support
cutting-edge science, such as the computationally intensive biomedical
investigations enabled by the Lariat project, the first phase of a
larger effort called IDeANet, which was recently funded by the National
Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. The
Lariat Network, once complete, will enhance the network connectivity of
institutions in six rural states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, and Wyoming), improving access to biomedical research resources,
national and international collaborators, and allowing fuller
participation in Internet-enabled science and education efforts. The
dark fiber also provides a cost-effective means to provision
significantly higher bandwidth connectivity to the Front Range GigaPop
in Denver for the University’s connectivity to national networking
efforts such as the Abilene Network and National LambdaRail (NLR).

"We are excited to have signed this agreement with FiberCo because it
not only helps to pave the way for the next wave of regional optical
networking to reach our campus at an early stage, but it also will
provide our faculty new networking capabilities with which to conduct
research," said Robert Aylward, Vice President & Chief Information
Officer, Information Technology, University of Wyoming.

"The increase in bandwidth provided by the purchase of the FiberCo dark
fiber will enable researchers and educators at the University of Wyoming
to take the first steps towards participating in many new research and
education efforts.  This is the first piece of the Lariat Network to be
put in place and I am delighted to see such rapid progress on this
project," said Professor Gwen Jacobs, chair of the Department of Cell
Biology and Neuroscience at Montana State University and principal
investigator of the Lariat project.

Under an agreement with Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT), FiberCo
has the ability to provision both from an initial allocation of more
than 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 the ongoing costs of fiber maintenance and equipment
collocation.

"We are very pleased to have worked with our colleagues at the
University of Wyoming on this assignment," said Steve Corbató, director
of network infrastructure for Internet2.  "We consider the placement of
this fiber between Denver and Laramie to provide further validation of
the FiberCo approach – especially in facilitating the extension of
optical networks outside their traditional domain within major
metropolitan areas."

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About University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming offers extraordinary opportunities for
students to experience individual growth and leadership development, as
well as the chance to study and conduct research with nationally known
faculty using cutting-edge technology.  As one of the smallest
universities in the nation's highest research classification, UW offers
students the proven benefits of attending a nationally-ranked
university, combined with a caring, personalized approach to teaching
and intellectual exploration.

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.