Filling a Gap in the Nation’s High-Speed Networks

Summer is road construction season for much of the country. A necessary inconvenience for maintaining our transportation system because connectivity is a fundamental requirement for commerce. For two parties to exchange goods, services or knowledge, they have to be able to find each other. The location and capacity of transportation infrastructures – sea ports, railways and interstate highways – very much determines the opportunity for and extent of economic growth. In a knowledge-based global economy, fiber connectivity is increasingly critical for supporting a regional innovation structure.

The emergence in the late 1990s of the concept of a Digital Divide – the separation of those populations with Internet/Web access and those without – helped solidify thinking that all Americans need access to these information tools for the nation to remain a global leader for innovation and worker productivity. While the goals of eliminating issues of accessibility are tailored around education, information sharing and commerce, for many people, the Internet has devolved into simply another entertainment delivery system.

Even as most of us are downloading Connie Chung’s farewell song or World Cup scores, there are those, fortunately, using the Web to advance scientific discovery, learning and technological innovation. For heavy duty use, universities, federal labs, private companies and other research institutions have established separate networks such as the National Lambda Rail, the Abilene Network Backbone and vBNS for supercomputers.

The latest addition to this exclusive high-speed, high-power networking world comes from Internet2’s June 15 announcement with Level 3 Communications to develop and deploy the Next Generation Nationwide Research Network, which will offer 100 gigabit per second capacity — more than 10 times that of the current Internet 2 backbone network.

None of these systems have the drag on their speed and performance by all of our instant messaging and music downloads, because they are exclusive members-only networks. Membership is typically open to research entities that can demonstrate the need, have the financial resources to participate, and are near the hardwire cable infrastructure, or backbone of the selected network.

Therein lies the similarity of the nation’s top networks and the transportation infrastructure issues of the more arcane economic development world. If you aren’t on the line, you can’t benefit directly from the network. Just as those regions underserved by the Interstate highway system are at a competitive disadvantage for many avenues for economic prosperity, those universities and research intensive tech firms away from the highest-speed information networks are at an innovation disadvantage.

A quick look at maps showing the infrastructure for the National Lambda Rail, vBNS, and Abilene Network Backbone reveals similarities in their service lines – and obvious, recurring areas of the country that are not served at all.

Universities and federal labs in the largest geographic area of no service, the Upper Midwest and Inland Northwest, are forming the Norther Tier Networking Consortium to revise the maps. With a $200,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation, the consortium is in its early stages of formalization. So far, 21 members have signed the letter of agreement, including:

* EROS Data Center, US Geological Survey (Sioux Falls)
* Iowa State University
* Minnesota Higher Education Services
* Montana State University
* North Dakota State University
* Pacific Northwest GigaPoP
* Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
* State of North Dakota Information Technology Department
* State of South Dakota Board of Regents
* South Dakota State University
* Turtle Mountain Community College
* University of Idaho
* University of Iowa
* University of Minnesota
* University of Montana
* University of Nebraska
* University of North Dakota
* University of South Dakota
* University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
* University of Wisconsin-Madison
* WiscNet Regional Network

The University of Wyoming also is a possible future partner. Depending on options chosen and how many sites are connected, the projects price tag is anywhere from $5.3 million to $8.8 million in one-time charges, and about $900,000 up to $1.5 million for annual ongoing expenses. The closest hubs to access the network are located at Chicago, Kansas City and Denver.

In addition to the NSF grant, the consortium is pursuing other federal grants and appropriations from the various state legislatures, to help cover some of the projects costs. However, Jewett acknowledged that state and federal appropriations would likely be necessary to cover the networks total cost.

More information is available at: http://www.ntnc.org/default.htm

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