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 <NIC.MERIT.EDU>                                             12 March 1992
      /internet/legislative.actions/hearing.12mar92/hood.testimony


 Testimony of Dr. Eric S. Hood, President, Federation of American Research
 Networks (FARNET), and Executive Director, NorthWestNet, as submitted to
 the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Science of the Committee
 on Science, Space, and Technology

 Hearing on the Operation, Management, and Future of the National Science
 Foundation Network (NSFNET) and the National Research and Education
 Network (NREN)

 March 12, 1992

 Chairman Boucher and members of the Committee, I am truly pleased to
 present testimony regarding the National Science Foundation Network
 (NSFNET) and the National Research and Education Network (NREN) on
 behalf of the Federation of American Research Networks (FARNET).

 FARNET is a non-profit association chartered to support the evolution
 and wide-spread adoption of data networking to enhance research,
 education, and economic development.  Our 32 members include
 operators of state, regional, and national computer networks,
 telecommunications vendors, and other organizations of like mission.
 A majority of the private network providers [e.g., Advanced Network
 Services (ANS), California Education and Research Foundation Network
 (CERFnet), and Performance Systems International (PSI)] are members,
 as are most of the other regional and state public networks connected
 to the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET).  FARNET also has
 liaison relationships with other national and international
 organizations with interests in networking, including the
 Coordinating Committee on Intercontinental Research Networks (CCIRN)
 and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

 As a membership association, FARNET limits its public commentary on
 policy to questions which the membership has considered as a body.
 With regard to the issues before the Subcommittee, and in response to
 your questions regarding the NSFNET and the National Research and
 Education Network (NREN) as posed in your letter of February 28,
 1992, the FARNET Board of Directors would like to communicate the
 following observations based on workshops, conferences, and focused
 electronic discussions conducted over the past six months.

 "Assessment of NSF's efforts to provide networking support to the
 science and engineering research and education community, including
 your views on the current arrangement for operation of NSFNET."

 The Division of Networking and Communications Research and
 Infrastructure (DNCRI) at NSF has done an exemplary job of enabling
 the provision of network access to the nation's research and
 education communities.  Over the past five years, NSF has created a
 nd maintained an operational infrastructure which has successfully
 sustained exponential growth, as measured by the number of users, by
 the number of connected institutions, and by the volume of network
 traffic.  In addition, NSF has demonstrated technical leadership in
 establishing standards for data networking and for supporting
 research into very high speed technologies.  Furthermore, NSF's
 investments, which have been modest by Federal standards, have
 leveraged significant funding commitments on university campuses,
 from corporations, and from state governments.

 Ten years ago in 1982, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's
 ARPANET deployed then state of the art technology to connect military
 facilities to approximately 10 or 15 research universities.  The
 computing devices attached to the network numbered in the hundreds
 and ARPANET trunk speeds did not exceed 56 thousand bits per second.
 The custom-built hardware needed to accomplish the switching cost on
 the order of $100,000 to $200,000 per node.  Computer scientists and
 engineers were the only regular users of the network.

 In contrast, trunk bandwidths in the NSFNET now routinely exceed 25
 times the capacity of the original ARPANET (or 1.5 million bits per
 second), and many trunks are capable of supporting 700 times this
 amount (or 45 million bits per second).  The cost of the switching
 hardware is at least one, and can be two, orders of magnitude
 smaller.  The computing devices that we use daily, from very fast
 personal computers to graphics workstations to parallel
 supercomputers, were barely envisioned by designers 10 ye ars ago.

 Today's NSFNET allows researchers and scholars to communicate
 electronically, to exchange text, data and graphical images, and to
 access geographically dispersed information resources.  The NSFNET
 now connects over 630 colleges and universities, or approximately 35
 percent of our nation's four year institutions of higher education.
 Over 90 percent of the nation's Federally sponsored research is
 conducted at institutions of higher education connected to the
 NSFNET.  Approximately 70 percent of our nation' s student population
 attending four year colleges and universities have institutional
 access to the NSFNET.  This communications and information
 infrastructure enables computer users at sites across the nation to
 share information and to work collaboratively on common tasks and
 projects.  More than 1,000 institutions, including colleges,
 universities, and not-for-profit, government, and corporate research
 facilities representing every state, are currently connected to the
 NSFNET.  Today's NSFNET is also an important part of a larger
 communications network, the global Internet, which connects an
 estimated 750,000 computers and 5 million users worldwide.

 Such broad interconnectivity between our nation's colleges and
 universities has opened new avenues for communication among the
 nation's scholars.  The NSFNET now empowers researchers and educators
 at more than just the Carnegie research universities.  Over the
 network, faculty and students at comprehensive and liberal arts
 colleges now routinely collaborate electronically with their
 counterparts at our nation's elite research universities.

 Over the past five years, NSF has provided national administrative
 and technical leadership in the field of research and education
 networking.  Throughout this period, NSF has provided clear and
 consistent technical direction promoting the deployment of
 interoperable and open data communications technologies.  The NSF has
 enabled the development of a national networking infrastructure
 capable of supporting communications across diverse computing
 platforms manufactured by multiple vendors.  For those that have
 followed NSF's lead, inter-institutional connectivity across campus,
 corporate, state, regional, and national boundaries is now possible.
 Thus NSF has successfully leveraged technically sound investments on
 many university and corporate campuses in anticipation of national
 and global interconnectivity.  One regional network, WESTnet,
 estimates that for each Federal dollar invested in the NSFNET
 program, the Federal Government leverages thirty-one dollars of state
 and local funds.

 "Regarding NSF's plan for recompetition of the award for operation of
 the NSFNET backbone: Did the plan take into account the views of the
 network user and network provider communities?"

 In constructing the plan for recompetition of the award for operation
 of the NSFNET backbone, NSF both solicited and implemented
 recommendations from network users and network providers represented
 by FARNET.  With support from the National Science Foundation,
 FARNET conducted a workshop and electronic discussion in the late
 summer and early fall of 1991 to address the complex issue of
 inter-regional connectivity.  Specifically, FARNET considered future
 options for the provision of connectivity among midlevel networks
 after the current agreement for NSFNET backbone services expires in
 November, 1992.  Participants included representatives from FARNET
 member networks, other NREN stake holders (including
 telecommunications carriers and leaders in university information
 technology), Federal agency representatives, and legal and economic
 experts.  Our report was well received by NSF.  In fact, several key
 concepts from the FARNET report regarding network stability and
 multiple awards to inter-regional connectivity service providers
 were included in NSF's report to the National Science Board, "Project
 Development Plan: Continuation and Enhancement of NSFNET Backbone
 Services." (A copy of FARNET's Recommendations to the National
 Science Foundation Regarding Inter-regional Connectivity is
 attached.)

 "More specifically, will the plan lead to a level playing field for
 the commercial network providers?"

 In their report to the National Science Board, "Project Development
 Plan: Continuation and Enhancement of NSFNET Backbone Services," NSF
 identified the two seminal issues associated with the recompetition
 process: preservation of network stability and pro motion of
 competition.  Regarding fair competition, NSF's report further
 identifies two essential points: that the incumbent provider is not
 favored, and that equal opportunity is provided to other firms
 desiring to participate in the provision of transcontinental TCP/IP
 networking services.

 To facilitate the accomplishment of these objectives, the NREN
 Engineering Group (NEG) advising the National Science Foundation has
 proposed clear separation of the administration of network routing
 from the provision of transcontinental circuits and digital
 switching fabric.  Operationally, this separation will be achieved
 through two independent solicitations.  The NEG has recommended that
 the solicitation providing for the formation of an Internet Routing
 Authority (IRA) be awarded to a single entity.  FARNET agrees that
 this single award is necessary to ensure the continued operational
 viability of the network.  The solicitation for connectivity services
 will include the possibility for multiple awards.  FARNET agrees and
 has strongly recommended that the provision of connectivity services
 be awarded to at least two competing providers.  Thus all awardees
 will have appropriate incentives to cooperate with each other in the
 development and operation of interconnection facilities.

 If implemented as outlined in the report to the National Science
 Board, the NSF plan for recompetition of the award for operation of
 the NSFNET backbone will indeed level the playing field for the
 commercial network providers while preserving an acceptable level of
 stability.

 "Are there better alternatives to the proposed plan?"

 The plan as presented in NSF's report to the National Science Board,
 "Project Development Plan: Continuation and Enhancement of NSFNET
 Backbone Services," is consistent with the consensus position of a
 majority of FARNET's constituency.  FARNET endorses the plan as
 presented, but must again emphasize the importance of multiple awards
 for the provision of inter-regional connectivity services.

 "What are your views on the key issues Congress needs to consider to
 help ensure a successful evolution of the current Internet to the
 NREN?  What is your vision for the NREN and how would you define the
 roles of the public and private sectors in realizing that vision?
 What specific steps should be taken by the Congress and the Federal
 agencies to help ensure the goals for the NREN are achieved?"

 Something significant is happening in our country.  Over the past
 five years under NSF's leadership, America has made great progress
 toward creating a national data communications and information
 infrastructure to enable research, education, technology transfer,
 and economic development.  This national resource is already
 delivering material benefit to research and education, both in the
 public and private sectors.  Fully realized, the NREN holds the
 promise of significantly enhancing our national competitiveness in
 the global marketplace.

 Over the past five years, the Federal Government has played a pivotal
 role in the creation, growth, and evolution of the NSFNET.  Continued
 Federal investments in the NREN must be focused to ensure equal and
 ubiquitous access to our nation's information resources, to improve
 network reliability, performance, and usability, and to enable
 research in new and pre-competitive technologies.  With judicious
 investments and the correct partnership among government, academia,
 and industry, we can realize the NREN vision.

 FARNET endorses the right of equal access to our nation's information
 resources.

 The NREN has the potential to reduce traditional impediments to data
 communication and access to information systems: geographic
 isolation, smallness of size, and sparseness of local resources.
 Through the NSFNET this vision has become reality for our re search
 and higher education communities interested in information
 exploration.  From small town doctors collaborating with inner city
 clinicians on a difficult diagnosis, to patrons of a community
 library wishing to broaden their understanding of the world around
 them, the NREN can begin to deliver on this promise by funding
 programs aimed at enabling these previously disenfranchised
 communities.

 Through the NREN, this vision can become reality for all Americans.
 The benefits provided by the NREN are not restricted to those who are
 resource poor, but are shared equally by stewards of unique
 resources.  For example, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Center's
 collection of astronomical images in Boston and the globally
 distributed antennas of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory are
 equally accessible to scholars through the NSFNET.  The evolution of
 the NREN must be guided by the principle of equality of access to
 scholarly information for all Americans.

 There is considerable historical precedent for Federal leadership in
 supporting the creation, operation, and maintenance of the nation's
 commerce, transportation, and utility systems.  In that spirit,
 FARNET recommends that Congress continue to support the extension of
 basic connectivity services to underserved and geographically remote
 communities through the programs of the Federal agencies
 participating in the NREN.

 FARNET endorses the principles of ubiquitous access to and universal
 interconnectivity of our nation's information resources.

 The strength of the Internet, the system of networks that includes
 the NSFNET, is its broad interconnectivity.  Internet technology is
 now widely employed to electronically link computers -- from
 microcomputers to supercomputers.  These computers can be located
 within an organization at a single site or within multiple
 organizations at opposite ends of the country.

 We are well on the way to creating a national, and in the near
 future, even global, communication and information network.  Any
 decision that limits interconnectivity among segments of the Internet
 impedes the development and reduces the usefulness of this national
 resource.  Educators, researchers, and students must have access to
 the full array of computing and information resources on the
 Internet.  Balkanization of the Internet cannot be tolerated.
 Congress must discourage funding policies which allow procurement of
 network services from disjoint islands of service providers.
 Endorsing procurement criteria that require the service providers to
 guarantee interconnectivity to other service providers will ensure
 that we progress toward a national data communications fabric that
 reaches every campus, every library, every school, every home.

 FARNET endorses continued efforts to improve the reliability,
 performance, and usability of the networking infrastructure.

 Continuing enhancements of network capacity and performance, and
 improvements in network operations and engineering practices are
 essential to the development of a reliable and robust NREN.
 Providing an adequate level of stability and predictability, both in
 the operation of the current Internet and in the transition to new
 technologies or management paradigms, is critical to the continuing
 growth and use of the NREN.  Until these advances in network capacity
 and performance occur as a natural consequencies of private sector
 activity, judicious Federal investments in the nation's
 communications infrastructure will be required.  The continued
 investment of Federal funds will ensure that major segments of our
 population (i.e., remote areas, underserved communities,
 disadvantaged constituencies) are not disenfranchised from this
 national resource.

 Greatly improved support for user and information services
 network-wide will enable the rapid extension, acceptance, and use of
 the NREN.  This support should include plans for the provision of
 access to both public and private information resources, with early
 resolution of copyright and other intellectual property issues.
 Federal investment in research and development of directory services,
 network navigation tools, user documentation, and training services
 is a necessary prerequisite to enhancing network usability.

 FARNET endorses the elimination of restrictions on the delivery of
 commercial services across the NSFNET and the emerging NREN.

 We have reached a crossroads in the evolution of true network
 interconnectivity for our country.  The network infrastructure that
 we are building has the inherent capability to promote research,
 education, technology transfer, and economic development.  Yet, the
 current acceptable use restrictions on the Federally sponsored
 national backbone impede our progress.

 Close collaboration, even partnership, among government, academia,
 and industry is essential in promoting the advancement of these
 critical technologies.  Such collaborative efforts are enabled when
 all partners can, without restriction, access common infrastructure.
 Yet, current policies prohibit the use of the Federally funded
 network for commercial purposes.  It is as if we were required to
 have two telephones on every desk, one for making purely
 "educational" calls and the second for making "commercial" calls.
 The economic inefficiencies and practical disadvantages of such a
 system are apparent.  If the NREN is to realize its full potential,
 part of its evolution must include controlled experimentation
 permitting interconnection of the public and private sectors to
 achieve a "critical mass" of network users and suppliers.

 To remedy the current limitations on interconnectivity between the
 public and private sectors, FARNET requests that Congress act to
 remove the current acceptable use restrictions on the Federally
 sponsored national network infrastructure.  At a minimum, commercial
 traffic should be permitted on this infrastructure on an experimental
 basis and under suitably controlled conditions.  This experiment
 should be designed to produce results which can be analyzed from
 multiple perspectives (i.e., technical, administrative, economic,
 and legal) and should be widely disseminated as envisioned in the
 High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) legislation.

 FARNET endorses the principle of inter-agency cooperation and
 collaboration in the construction of the NREN.

 As noted earlier, one of the great strengths of today's Internet is
 the provision of broad interconnectivity.  Although this
 interconnectivity includes the current NSFNET and the national
 mission agency networks operated by the Department of Energy (DOE),
 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the
 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), today's Internet
 can not be characterized as a single, homogeneous entity.  With such
 a broad and varied constituency, the Interim Interagency NREN is
 unlikely to evolve as a single, homogeneous initiative, at least in
 the short term.  Yet insofar as existing technologies and current
 deployment strategies are sufficient to adequately support mission
 agency activities, the Federal agencies must be encouraged to
 collaborate and cooperate to reduce costs and to promote the public
 good.

 FARNET endorses further research into key technologies.

 The nation must have focused research programs pushing the envelope
 of high performance production networking.  Continued Federal support
 for basic research is essential to the solution of difficult problems
 that remain in several critical areas (e.g., network security,
 authentication, privacy, routing and addressing, high speed circuit
 and switching architectures).

 Forging the appropriate mix of private investment and public
 sponsorship is critical to the continuing development and delivery of
 this important technology.  Continued Federal investments in these
 key research areas will leverage private funds and enable the transfer
 of pre-competitive technologies from academic and government
 laboratories to private industry.

 FARNET endorses the continued close collaboration among government,
 academia, and industry to realize the NREN vision.

 Ten years ago, the Internet was a government-funded research project.
 Today, internetworking is a multi-billion dollar industry.

 Ten years ago, access to this technology was limited to a small cadre
 of experts in computer science and telecommunications engineering.
 Today, an estimated 5 million researchers and educators, teachers and
 students, authors and librarians, physicians and clinicians, policy
 makers and corporate planners use the worldwide Internet.

 Ten years ago, Internet devices were the constructs of research labs.
 Today, Internetworking hardware and software components are
 commercially available from a variety of vendors at commodity prices.

 Ten years ago, telecommunications providers were offering dedicated
 digital services within and between only a few metropolitan areas.
 Today, every major provider offers, or has immediate plans to offer
 tariffed, high speed packetized digital services aim ed at a
 burgeoning data networking market.

 >From these achievements it is clear that we have made considerable
 progress along the sometimes bumpy road toward commercialization and
 privatization of the Internet.  The components of networking
 technology have matured and become available commercially. Prices of
 networking equipment, circuits, and services have dropped for all
 consumers.  New vendors with new capital have been attracted into the
 market, creating new high-technology jobs and opportunities.

 But the internetworking industry faces the classical set of
 challenges associated with success management.  While business
 activity in the private sector grows, we must avoid the temptation to
 reduce government investment in new or pre-competitive technologies.
 While the costs of connectivity in our metropolitan areas continue to
 decrease, we must avoid the temptation to reduce government support
 for communities that are underserved.

 If we move cautiously forward in the correct partnership of
 government, academia, and industry, our nation can work together to
 realize the NREN vision.

 We trust that these observations will be of use to the Subcommittee
 in its March deliberations.  These comments are respectfully
 submitted by Dr. Eric S. Hood, President of the Federation of
 American Research Networks (FARNET).