July 23, 2001
SEATTLE, WA USA and CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA -- Collaboration among researchers
and students "down under" with those in North America took a giant leap
forward today as the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet)
activated a trans-Pacific optical fiber connection to the Pacific Northwest
Gigapop at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA.
The Pacific Northwest Gigapop is a primary interconnection point for
advanced research and education networks in Canada, the US, and now the
Pacific Rim. This new direct 155 Megabit per second (OC-3c) connection
allows the Australian research community to communicate quickly and
efficiently with researchers, and enjoy access to advanced research
resources and apparatus in the Canada and the US.
"Having an optical fiber circuit to the Pacific Northwest Gigapop makes the
previously unworkably slow and roundabout data trip across over ten
thousand of miles of water a breeze. The most significant achievement in
bridging this trans-oceanic digital-divide will be our newly acquired
abilities to traffic in high quality remote sense, video, sound and
multimedia material as well as in huge scientific datasets and other
demanding digital objects like medical images. This will make virtual
neighbors out of our partner networks and resources across the world.
Exploiting such mechanisms to develop relationships between researchers is
key to fostering and sustaining excellence in research, in education and
economic development," said George McLaughlin, Executive Director of AARNet.
"AARNet faced the challenges and isolating forces of extreme geographic
distance head-on with an audacious and well architected effort. With the
continued leading-edge work of their talented and determined network
engineering staff, this circuit will support AARNet's role as one of the
top research networks in the world. We are pleased to help them accomplish
this and to provide them with the next-generation infrastructure they need
to move their data efficiently among their partners around the world. This
important addition to the global research and education network fabric will
benefit us all," said Ron Johnson, Vice President and Vice Provost of the
University of Washington.
"The first connections through the Pacific Northwest Gigapop will be to
CANet*3 and Internet2 backbone networks, the advanced research and
education networks of Canada and the United States respectively," said
McLaughlin. "In addition, we will obtain immediate very high speed and
lowest latency access to the research and education networks and the
interconnected computational and information resources throughout the
Pacific Northwest and California."
The transPacific fiber optic cable is part of the Southern Cross Cable
Network with U.S. landing and backhaul to PNWGP provided by WCI Cable. Two
separate redundant cables span 19,000 miles under the Pacific with landings
in Alexandria, Australia; Kahe Point; Oahu, Hawaii; and Nedonna Beach,
Oregon among others places. It took 19 months to lay these cables.
About AARNet
AARNet Pty Ltd is a not-for-profit company that operates the AARNet2
network, providing Internet services to all thirty-seven Australian
universities, CSIRO Australia and their research and education partners.
AARNet provides an incubator for development of advanced network
infrastructure and applications. It has a national and international focus
with access to the global research and education networks through the
PNWGP. AARNet is also a member of the GrangeNet consortium which will build a
10Gbps backbone in Australia and develop advanced network and grid services
to support advanced applications.
About Pacific Northwest Gigapop
Pacific Northwest Gigapop is the Northwest's Next Generation Internet,
Internet 2/Abilene applications cooperative, testbed, and point of
presence. PNWGP connects together high-performance international and
Federal research networks with universities, research organizations, and
leading-edge R&D and new-media enterprises throughout Washington, Alaska,
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Canada, and now Australia.
About the University of Washington
The University of Washington is one of the world's top research
universities. Perennially among the top 3 American institutions in
peer-reviewed research activities and related competitive contracts and
grants, and with numerous top-ranked programs, the UW is a university which
truly embodies the ideals of Learning @ the Leading Edge
About WCI Cable
WCI, headquartered in Hillsboro, is made up of World Net Communications,
Inc., WCI Cable, Inc., WCI LightPoint, LLC and Alaska Fiber Star, LLC.
Collectively the group manages and constructs terrestrial and submarine
fiber optic systems and telecommunications infrastructure. WCI provides
carrier neutral collocation and undertakes new network projects throughout
North America and the Pacific Rim.
About Internet2
Led by over 180 US universities, working with industry and government,
Internet2 is developing and deploying advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation
of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships of academia,
industry and government that helped foster today's Internet in its infancy.
Contact:
AARNet
George McLaughlin
ph: +02.6276.6900 (international: +61.2.6276.6900)
Pacific Northwest Gigapop
Jan Eveleth
ph: +1.206.934.5588
WCI Cable
Patrick Estenes
pestenes@wcicable.com
Internet2
Greg Wood
ghwood@internet2.edu
CANet*3
Bill St. Arnaud
Bill.St.Arnaud@canarie.ca
