Brussels, 15/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - European now has a world-class research networking infrastructure that will ensure that researchers will be better and faster connected everywhere in the world. The Commission in this context announced the official launching of GÉANT2 on Wednesday in Luxembourg by Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. This world-class research networking infrastructure is a modernised version of the original GÉANT network. GÉANT2 will use pulsed light (photons), rather than electrons, to carry huge volumes of research data faster than ever before. Dark fibre-optic cables offering a performance of up to 320 Gigabit per second are lit to process data for advanced applications such as high-energy physics experiments or to connect radio telescopes worldwide. The Commission underlines that, “compared with similar research networks in the US or in Asia, GÉANT2 innovates by seamlessly combining dark fibre with more traditional broadband technology, notably to supply research networking services to schools, via its partner networks. It will provide a Europe-wide “roaming” service that enables scientists to access the network and their home university's working environments from anywhere, at any time.
GÉANT is a collaborative initiative first launched in 2001 with 26 of Europe's National Research and Education Networks (NRENs).from 30 countries in Europe, the Commission and the DANTE (Delivery of Advanced network Technology to Europe). It is the first pan-European data communication network from one to several gigabits used in research and teaching from Iceland to Caucasus and beyond. It has created the world's largest interconnected community of scientists and academics, enabling them to share research data faster than ever before. The European Commission contributes €93 million to this project, just under half the total cost (EUR 200 million). The rest is funded by national research and education networks. GÉANT2 is a truly giant step forward. With this modern network, we will ensure that researchers will be better and faster connected everywhere in Europe than anywhere else in the world”, said Ms Reding. For further information: (http: //http://www.geant2.net ).