News for and about the Internet2 community

[Todd Sedmak <>]

Internet2 Helps New England Telehealth Consortium and the North Carolina 
TeleHealth Network Provide Telehealth and Telemedicine Services               
                       To Nearly 700 Health Organizations

Nationwide 100G Network Works with Regional Networks to Provide Advanced 
Features

Ann Arbor, Mich.—(Sept. 12, 2012)—Internet2, operator of the nation’s 
fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network, announced today two 
new network agreements to support the deployment of advanced health 
information technologies in communities in New England and North Carolina.

Internet2’s agreements with the New England Telehealth Consortium and the 
North Carolina TeleHealth Network, with the help of regional operating 
networks, the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) and 
Northern Crossroads (NoX) in New England, will facilitate the adoption of 
telemedicine solutions, including remote medical diagnostics, and will 
facilitate faster medical imaging sharing among connected health network 
facilities.

Internet2, through its U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) 
healthcare initiative, works with healthcare institutions and telehealth 
network providers throughout the nation to promote and enable e-healthcare 
and networking solutions.

The New England Telehealth Consortium and the North Carolina TeleHealth 
Network are Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rural Health Care Pilot 
Program recipients. These two telehealth organizations recently agreed to 
connect to the Internet2 Network to benefit nearly 700 health organizations 
in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and North Carolina. To date, nearly 1,400 
health organizations are connected to the Internet2 Network as a result of 
funding from the FCC Rural Health Care Pilot Program.

Other FCC Rural Health Care Pilot Program health networks connected to the 
Internet2 Network include: Iowa Health System, St. Joseph’s Hospital in 
Wisconsin, Palmetto State Providers Network in South Carolina, the Colorado 
Telehealth Network, and the California Telehealth Network.

The FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program helps public and non-profit health 
care providers deploy state- and region-wide broadband networks to provide 
telehealth and telemedicine services throughout the nation. Internet2 works 
in cooperation with regional network connectors to support pilot participants.

The Internet2 Network is the national high-performance network connecting 
America’s colleges and universities to research and education collaborators 
worldwide. Internet2 is nearly complete with its network upgrade to 100 
Gigabit Ethernet technologies and 8.8 Terabit per second capacity to support 
emerging bandwidth needs in research and education. The network upgrade also 
enables advanced networking features via Internet2’s U.S. UCAN effort for 
more than 200,000 of the country’s essential community anchor institutions 
including libraries, health institutions, K-12 schools, community colleges, 
public safety organizations, and other public institutions.

Executive Quotes:

Brian Thibeau, president, New England Telehealth Consortium
"The New England Telehealth Consortium is excited about the opportunity to 
connect our 400 plus Northern New England health care provider network with 
Internet2. This interconnectivity will provide NETC participants with access 
to unique resources, an enhanced ability for collaboration, and cost 
effective alternatives for providing clinical care and consultation."

Dr. William F. Pilkington, chief executive officer, Cabarrus Health Alliance
"The North Carolina TeleHealth Network already supports broadband needs for 
about 60 percent of major telehealth programs in North Carolina. In the next 
phase of work we seek to exploit NCTN's connectivity to Internet2 to further 
the value and scope of telehealth programs for North Carolina's citizens."

H. David Lambert, president and chief executive officer, Internet2
“In concert with our regional network partners, NCREN and NoX, we are pleased 
to be an integral part in helping the New England Telehealth Consortium and 
the North Carolina TeleHealth Network achieve their vision to provide 
advanced telehealth services to citizens and communities in North Carolina 
and throughout New England. Providing connectivity services to FCC Rural 
Health Care Pilot Program recipients is a shining example of how Internet2 
plans to leverage its network and services through our U.S. UCAN initiative 
to support the advanced networking needs of community anchor institutions.”

About Internet2

Internet2® is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by the 
nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 provides a 
collaborative environment for U.S. research and education organizations to 
solve common technology challenges, and to develop innovative solutions in 
support of their educational, research, and community service missions. For 
more information, visit www.internet2.edu.

For media assistance, contact Todd Sedmak at 202-331-5373 or 
.

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