Internet2 has received a donation aimed at a 100Gbps Ethernet networking project from Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR, news, filings). The internet equipment maker has injected $2.5M that will go toward the building of the United States Unified Community Anchor Network, or US UCAN. I like my acronyms without an apparent political slogan, but oh well. Internet2 also won some stimulus funding for the project last month, with partners National LambdaRail, Northern Tier Network Consortium and Indiana University – $62M worth, which will be supplemented by $35M from its own partners.
The network will go coast to coast and connect up some 200K ‘anchor institutions’, the now familiar buzzword one must use when applying for government money, and 35M people. Much of this will surely go over their existing fiber, most of which is from Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings), and will of course include Juniper’s MX and T Series Routers. However, according to the PR, the overall network includes acquisition of nearly 12,000 miles of newly lit fiber and creates a resilient set of fiber paths through the middle of the country, with added capabilities for the Northern Tier and throughout the south and east.
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Categories: Government Regulations · Internet Backbones
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Sounds like a great “real-world” testbed for some new technology. Where better than a higher education network to put a technology so that the people currently training to be future network gurus can become familiar with the ins and outs of a product line. They might also develop relationships with the developmental staff at Juniper, and thus carry that relationship on over to the private sector. To me, this is reminiscent of Apple’s attempt in the 80’s to put their computers in educational institutions and thus push future demand their way.
Do we know where this “acquisition of nearly 12,000 miles of newly lit fiber” is coming from?
More to the point, is it 12,000 fiber miles, or is it ~ 42 route miles of 288 strand fiber cable? Also, I’d just love to see 12,000 miles of newly lit fiber being lit all at once 😉