News for and about the Internet2 community

[Greg Wood <>]

Three Michigan Universities Assigned FiberCo Dark Fiber

ANN ARBOR, MI – August 30, 2004 – FiberCo(TM), a fiber holding company
supporting U.S. research and higher education, today announced that
Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State
University have purchased three pairs of dark fiber between Chicago,
Ill. and Detroit, Mich.  Metro fiber was also purchased in Detroit.
Established last year by Internet2(R), a consortium led by 207
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.

Access to this dark fiber will enable networking capabilities that allow
scientists to collaborate and conduct research with colleagues around
the country in ways not possible using existing networks, and will
provide the infrastructure to conduct experiments on networking itself.

"By working through FiberCo, we were able to leverage the national-scale
pricing structure and a streamlined fiber acquisition process it has
developed," said Scott Gerstenberger, external networking manager for
the University of Michigan. "The dark fiber acquired through FiberCo
will help bring the next wave of optical networking capabilities to
Michigan institutions at an early stage."

The three Michigan universities obtained the dark fiber from FiberCo
under an assignment agreement recently finalized.

"This highly collaborative effort by Michigan State University, the
University of Michigan, and Wayne State University continues the long
tradition of Michigan institutions providing leadership in advanced
Internet technology," said Steve Corbató, director of network
infrastructure for Internet2. "We believe this fiber assignment through
FiberCo represents a key step towards extending leading-edge optical
networking capabilities throughout Michigan."

Under an agreement with Level 3 Communications, Inc. (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.

# # #

About Michigan State University
Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming 
lives through innovative teaching, research, and outreach for nearly 150 
years. MSU is known worldwide as a major public research university with 
global reach and extraordinary impact. Its individual colleges and law 
school attract students and scholars from more than 125 countries who 
are interested in combining education with practical problem solving. 
MSU built its first computer in 1956 and, with University of Michigan 
and Wayne State University in 1966, was a founding member of Merit 
Network, Inc., a non-profit corporation that was America's first 
regional research and education network. Merit was a pioneer in 
packet-switched networking, the core technology of the Internet.

About University of Michigan
The University of Michigan offers instruction in a wide range of
academic disciplines at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctor's level.
The various degree programs, undergraduate, graduate, and professional,
are offered within the framework of approximately 130 departmental units
in 19 schools, colleges, and divisions, plus U.M.- Flint and U.M.-Dearborn.

About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 350
academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 33,000
students in metropolitan Detroit.

About FiberCo(TM)
FiberCo™ 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:
Greg Wood
Internet2
(202) 331-5360