High-speed academic networks to merge

HIGH-SPEED ACADEMIC NETWORKS TO MERGE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Desiree Everts]
Two consortia that aim to facilitate research by linking universities via high-speed networking have announced plans to merge. Although they had scrapped plans to combine their efforts a year ago, Internet2 and National LamdaRail (NLR) say they have finally come to an agreement and expect to complete their merger by June 29. NLR is a consortium of universities and technology companies that aims to build a nationwide optical network owned and used by the research community. It has been quietly snapping up thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable in an effort to build up its network. Because the network is owned and operated by researchers, it gives them greater flexibility and allows them to conduct experiments that they ordinarily couldn't do on a standard communications network. The Internet2 network, a much faster version of the Internet, was developed by a group of universities and technology companies looking to improve connection speeds. Researchers and professors use the network to enhance long-distance collaboration and learning.
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