15 July 2003 Washington, DC Lightwave--Optical Internet service provider Cogent Communications announced that it will provide participants of the Quilt, which includes more than 20 research and education networking organizations,with bandwidth on a nationwide basis. This bandwidth will enable GigaPoPs that provide regional network aggregation for universities, research institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations to continue their work and research using bandwidth intensive applications without the fear of reaching bandwidth restrictive budget caps.
Cogent is offering competitive pricing to regional GigaPoPs, such as the Mid-Atlantic Gigapop in Philadelphia for Internet2 (MAGPI), the Northern Crossroads (NoX), MERIT and CENIC, that will enable them to get bandwidth at the equivalent of $10 per megabit per month. The deal is expected to result in over 15 gigabits of additional IP transit ports with participants of the Quilt in 2003 and 2004.
"As a participant of the Quilt organization, MAGPI views the relationship with Cogent Communications as being strategic to its mission of providing affordable and sustainable connectivity to the region's research and educational communities," said Greg Palmer, MAGPI director. "Justification for connectivity to the Internet2 and MAGPI networks has been made possible in many cases based on the savings experienced through Cogent Internet access, thereby enabling applications that would not have otherwise been possible."
To date, Cogent Communications has connected multiple universities and colleges including the University of Pennsylvania, George Washington University, Tufts University, Stanford University, DePaul University and University of California, Berkeley.
Cogent's network consists of a dedicated nationwide multiple OC-192 fiber backbone, multiple intra-city OC-48 fiber rings, and optically interfaced high-speed routers. Cogent has been recognized as the first IP+Optical Cisco Powered Network. In April 2002, Cogent acquired the majority of the U.S. operations of PSINet including their three data centers located in NY, LA and Herndon, VA. As a result of the acquisition, Cogent is now offering service in over 30 metropolitan markets with bandwidth ranging from T1 to 1,000 Mbits/sec as well as colocation services in the data center locations.
Meanwhile, participants in The Quilt provide network service for over 150 Internet2 universities and thousands of other educational institutions. Internet2, a university-led research and development consortium, provides organizational support for The Quilt.
