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Internet2 Consortium Reaches Agreement with Level 3 Communications

Would you like a faster connection to the internet? How fast would you like your connection to be? The Internet2 Consortium wants the internet to be faster, and works very hard to accomplish that task. The consortium consists of research centers, universities and companies that are all exploring the possibilities of a very high-speed Internet.

The Internet2 Consortium announced that they`ve reached an agreement with Level 3 Communications. That means that the consortium will deploy a nationwide backbone that will be able to support speeds starting with 100 Gbps, 10 times the current top speed of Interent2`s backbone! But that`s not enough for the Internet2 Consortium, and they are planning on expanding the facilities to support up to 800 Gbps. Network users will be able to get a dedicated 1-Gpbs line for their projects, or license through scheduling, a 10 Gbps line.

The possibilities of a very high-speed network are endless. Astronomers that are working on space exploration can follow their massive telescopes from distant offices and control their projects from virtually anywhere. Underwater explorer can transmit high-speed footage from live explorations. "What Level 3 is hoping," said Cindy Whelan, an analyst at technology firm Current Analysis, "is that they`re going to get some experience with these special kinds of very high-speed applications and can parlay them into something that they can do with their regular customers."