News for and about the Internet2 community

[Lauren Kallens <>]

INTERNET2 AND IEEAF TO COLLABORATE ON ADVANCED GLOBAL NETWORKING INITIATIVES

ANN ARBOR, Mich. and HAYWOOD, Ca – September 28, 2004 – The Internet 
Educational Equal Access Foundation (IEEAF) and Internet2(R) today 
announced a formal agreement to work in partnership with the goal of 
extending regional, national, and international networking 
infrastructure to reduce the global disparities in access to 
high-performance Internet connectivity and related resources. Both the 
IEEAF and Internet2 are not-for-profit organizations devoted to 
accelerating the development of the next generation global Internet.

The agreement builds on a track record of successful collaboration 
between IEEAF and Internet2, including the establishment and subsequent 
management of high-performance transatlantic network circuits between 
Amsterdam and New York City dedicated to the research and education 
(R&E) community.

Don Riley, University of Maryland and chair, IEEAF Board said, "This 
agreement signifies a recognition of a shared vision of the need to work 
together to reduce the global inequities in access to high-performance 
bandwidth for research and education. The IEEAF has already worked with 
Internet2 and SURFnet to put into service in 2002 IEEAF’s TransAtlantic 
Link – its first donation of high-performance bandwidth to connect New 
York City to Groningen and Amsterdam, in the Netherlands (both 10 Gbps 
and 622 Mbps circuits from Tyco Telecom). Just this past June, the 
IEEAF's Transpacific Link (also both 10 Gbps and 622 Mbps from Tyco) 
connecting Pacific Wave in Seattle to the Tokyo Lambda Exchange (T-LEX) 
became active, and we look forward to putting 7,000 km of donated dark 
fiber in Europe into service. We are pleased to be working with 
Internet2 and other partners to continue to acquire donations and put 
them into service for the global community.”

Douglas Van Houweling, president and CEO of Internet2 said, "Our 
organizations’ shared commitment to advanced networking that supports 
research and education makes this agreement between Internet2 and IEEAF 
a natural extension of our existing joint accomplishments. Through this 
partnership, we hope to accelerate the deployment of high-capacity 
global Internet access which serves as a critical communication tool for 
the R&E community to enhance their development efforts, to create 
collaborative learning environments and to extend cooperation between 
otherwise disparate organizations.”

As a result of the agreement, Internet2 and the IEEAF have exchanged 
reciprocal Affiliate memberships, enabling closer collaboration on 
initiatives and projects that engage the international R&E community, 
and improving coordination of planning and participation in meetings and 
workshops.

Jun Murai, WIDE Japan and IEEAF board of directors said, “As a member of 
the international research and education community, I welcome this 
agreement. IEEAF and Internet2 are well positioned to play important 
complementary roles in helping the global research and education 
community facilitate and advance prudent strategies to secure and 
leverage network-related assets, and to capitalize on events associated 
with the build-out of the global submarine and terrestrial fiber optic 
network."

A Memorandum of Understanding approved this week by the IEEAF Boards of 
Directors and the Internet2 Board of Trustees provides the framework 
organizations' formal relationship.

About the IEEAF
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”. For more information about IEEAF, visit http://www.ieeaf.org/.

About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and 
government, Internet2 develops and deploys 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, visit: 
http://www.internet2.edu/.


Contacts:
Lauren Kallens, Media Relations
Internet2
+1-202-331-5345


John Charles, Board Secretary
IEEAF
+1-510-885-3785



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