Academics abandon sinking KPNQwest

NEWS UK university network Janet has cut its customer ties to bankrupt telco KPNQwest amid fears that its network could lose contact to the internet. Janet's holding company, Ukerna abandoned the sinking carrier that provided the connection between the academic network and the public internet last Friday after KPNQwest went into administration. Tim Kidd, product services director at Ukerna, said: "We left KPNQwest when it told us it was in administration, which made our contract with it void. It has also suggested its customers should seek contingency suppliers for their networks." Kidd added: "We have a huge number of users and can't afford to lose our connection to the public internet." Ukerna has chosen troubled network carrier WorldCom to provide the vital connection in favour of KPNQwest. Kidd stated: "We made an emergency network arrangement with WorldCom on Friday and it connected us up in four and a half hours. We have now launched a European procurement tender for this connection, which is required of us by law as we are spending public money." Janet was created in the early 1990s to connect academic establishments and now supports every university, research council and place of further education throughout the UK, numbering around 750 establishments. WorldCom is supplying a 2.5GB connection between Janet and the public internet which is currently maintaining traffic at the 1.2GB point. WorldCom already provides Janet's internet backbone that it is in the process of upgrading from 2GB to a fat 10GB, to help support global collaborative science projects. KPNQwest is keeping its network running while customers transfer services. The company is calling on customers to make alternative arrangements as quickly as possible.