30 August 2002 -- Level 3 Communications Inc has received a contract from the government-backed pan-European research community network operator DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe) to provide communications services between London and New York.
The 2.5Gbit/s wavelength terminates at a Level 3 data centre in New York and will connect the European research networks with those in the USA. This will enable both academic groups to flow information between one another using the Global Terrabit Research Network, a partnership to establish a worldwide next-generation Internet to interconnect national and multinational high-speed research and education networks.
"We selected Level 3 because it was able to provide DANTE with end-to-end connectivity over fibres that are owned by the company," said DANTE's general manager Dai Davies. "This gives DANTE the essential connectivity between US researchers and their counterparts in the European research networks of 32 countries across Europe that connect to the pan-European GEANT network." GEANT is the Consortium of European Research's sixth-generation network, connecting about 3,000 universities and research centres. DANTE is GEANT's coordinating partner and responsible for its construction.
"It proves yet again the value of having built our own network, where we can guarantee the quality of service from end-to-end," said Brady Rafuse, president of Level 3's operations in Europe.