Internet2 goes live

NEWS The Internet's next-generation backbone went live in the US this week. Dubbed Abilene, it will link research institutions across the US, creating what is commonly known as Internet2. More universities are connecting to Abilene each day. At the latest reckoning, there were 50, and 20 more are expected to join this year. Internet2 will enable new technologies to be tested in a non-commercial environment, before they are sold for use on the Web. Abilene also gives some companies access to the cutting edge research, prompting fears that Internet2 could give the US a major advantage over the rest of the world. But Greg Wood, spokesman for the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (Ucaid), stressed it is a genuinely international project. "We are only attaching the research laboratories to the backbone - not the commercial arms of the companies." Wood added that companies have to provide over $1m in goods and services to become a member of Internet2. Although Abilene will not be extended outside the US, Wood said European companies such as Alcatel and Deutsche Telecom are involved as equal partners. Ucaid also plans an alliance with Switzerland's Cerne research laboratory. The first trials on Internet2 are expected to be high-bandwidth services for telemedicine and distance learning.