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Status of the Internet Railroad
The Internet Railroad is a consortium of telecommunications corporations
that are contributing bandwidth to help build a public, global
infrastructure for the Internet. A large number of volunteers,
including some of the most world's most distinguished Internet engineers,
is helping to address the many research and deployment issues
involved in building a global backbone. The team is headed
by Marten Terpstra and Robin Littlefield of
Bay Networks, whose
company will also provide a network operations center for management
of the railroad.
Current contributions to the railroad include:
- A T3 (45 mbps) link between Tokyo and Los Angeles has been
contributed by
MCI and
KDD.
This link has been operational since February 1.
- A T3 (45 mbps) link between Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C. has been contributed by
MCI.
This link has been operational since February 1.
- Two DS3 links in the Washington, D.C. area have been contributed
by
MFS Datanet
to link the Japan line to MAE-East and the
National Press Building. MFS Datanet has also contributed an
additional 10 Mbps line from the National Press Building to the
Alternet backbone. These links have been oprational since February 1.
- A series of 14 T3 lines inside Japan contributed by
NTT
became operational between February and April.
- Satellite-based transmission from Japan with a footprint
over most of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, contributed
by JapanSat as part of WIDE's
WISH Project.
- An agreement has been reached by
Korea Telecom
and
KDD
to
place a 2 Mbps link between Seoul and Tokyo. This line has been expanded to
an T3 line in July.
- An agreement has been reached by
DGT Taiwan
and
KDD
to
install a 2 Mbps link between Taipei and Tokyo.
Other telecommunications corporations are encouraged to participate
in this collaborative project. We are especially interested in
links between Japan and the rest of Asia, from the U.S. to
Europe, from Europe to Asia, and especially for links to South
America and Africa. Interested parties should
contact fair administration at
fairmaster@park.org.
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