November 22, 2004 Denver, CO -- Qwest Communications International Inc. will continue to provide optical and SONET network services to Internet2, a university-led research and development consortium that includes more than 300 U.S. universities, research institutions, corporations, and government agencies working together to create and deploy next-generation Internet technologies.
In this latest agreement, Qwest will continue as the backbone transport provider for the Abilene Network -- Internet2's advanced transcontinental backbone -- through September 2007. The new agreement builds on an original agreement executed in April 1998 and subsequently extended for five years in October 2001.
Under the extension, the Abilene Network will continue using nearly 10,000 route-miles of Qwest's 10-Gbit/sec optical network, providing Internet2 members with connectivity for ongoing collaboration and innovation.
"Thanks to this extended agreement, the Abilene Network will continue to provide the advanced capabilities, performance, and bandwidth that our members have come to rely upon as we work together to test, build, and deploy the next generation of Internet technology," said Douglas Van Houweling, president and chief executive officer of Internet2. "Qwest remains a reliable and committed partner in meeting the ever-evolving needs of our community."
"Qwest is pleased to continue its partnership with Internet2 and to provide the network infrastructure for top research and education institutions worldwide to run next-generation IP applications," said Clifford S. Holtz, executive vice president of Qwest's business markets group. "Internet2 members continually put our network to the test by running applications that require very high bandwidth, and Qwest is pleased to surpass their expectations with our best-in-class network solution."
The Abilene Network, which currently connects over 3 million users, 220 research and education institutions, and 34 state education networks, operates at a speed 15,000 times faster than the average household broadband connection and with the capacity to send 9.7 million five-paragraph e-mails in one second. The network remains one of the most advanced and far-reaching education and research networks globally. Internet2 continues to work with its members to create a new hybrid optical and packet network architecture to accommodate emerging network applications requiring even greater capacity and flexibility.
Abilene supports advanced native services, such as IP multicast and IPv6, and provides a transparent view of network performance through the Abilene Observatory measurement collaboration. In recent years, the Abilene Network has played host to numerous successful efforts in the Internet2 Land Speed Record competition, through which various sets of members have set Guinness World Records for the speed of vast amounts of data sent at great distance across the network.