The A to Z of broadband

Janet

Janet (Joint academic network) is another bright technology idea of the UK government to connect all higher and further education institutions.

But this is one IT government project with a good track record. Development started in the 1970s and the Janet network now connects more than 18 million end-users in the UK's education and research organisations to each other, as well as to the rest of the world, through utilising high-speed IP networks.

The list from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies

Janet has been developed under many guises. In the late 1980s, SuperJanet was born: a fibre optic high-speed IP sibling to rehost Janet, proposed to address speed concerns.

Like a Marvel movie-hero franchise, SuperJanet has had many sequels, each faster and larger than its predecessor. The current version, SuperJanet 4, runs at 10Gbps with SuperJanet 5, predicted to come into operation at the end of 2006.

The UKerna (United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association) organisation, which manages the network, recently signed a deal for automated back-up, archiving, hosting and web file services with vendor InTechnology.