Internet2 WaveCo and Internet2 FiberCo to Immediately Deliver Advanced Networking Capabilities for the Research and Academic Community -- Internet2 today announced the immediate availability of dedicated optical wavelengths in addition to dark fiber assets for its members. The new service, called WaveCo, will provide members with access to lightpaths beyond the Internet2 Network footprint. To enable the WaveCo service, Internet2 will work with its carrier, Level 3 Communications, to provision circuits - optical carrier and digital signal - for regional networks and other Internet2 members needing to cost-effectively extend their connectivity anywhere the Level 3 optical network reaches. Because Level 3 is dramatically expanding its coverage in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, regional research and education networks leveraging the WaveCo service may be able to reach sites they couldn't six months ago, particularly in metropolitan areas. Through Internet2's agreement with the carrier, the "off-net" service will have the advantage of aggregated rates which are especially beneficial for regional networks that wish to extend their reach to only a few sites with varying demands for circuit capacity or duration. "The resources afforded by WaveCo and FiberCo allow regional networks and other Internet2 participants to control strategic assets of their networking," said Steve Cotter, Internet2 director of Network Services. "These two services provide an end-to-end solution for greater, flexible network reach." WaveCo complements the successful model of the Internet2 FiberCo dark fiber service which provides the research and education community the ability to cost-effectively purchase dedicated dark fiber on a nationwide scale. FiberCo and WaveCo allow Internet2 members to economically own and use the essential building blocks of advanced networking infrastructure. By providing dedicated optical waves and fiber, Internet2 supports community-control of fundamental networking infrastructure, while enabling a wide variety of bandwidth-intensive applications under development at campuses and research labs today. "Today scientists, doctors, and researchers throughout the world increasingly require reliable and flexible network facilities to collaborate and share bandwidth-intensive resources," said Cotter. "Through Internet2's new WaveCo and FiberCo services we will continue to support and facilitate the most innovative uses of networking to advance science and research on a multiple-terabyte scale." These services are being offered in advance of the completion of the recently announced new Internet2 Network infrastructure, which will be built on experience gained through Internet2's successful Hybrid Optical Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) testbed. The HOPI project examined hybrid packet and circuit switched optical infrastructures to understand next generation network architectures. When complete, the new Internet2 Network will provide advanced capabilities to support the work of computer scientists and researchers, including testing new network paradigms, protocols, and architectures that push the envelope of networking technology. Internet2 is working with its members and regional networking organizations to finalize deployment details of the new network, which will become operational during 2007. Inquiries for dedicated waves or dark fiber can be directed to waveco@internet2.edu and to fiberco@internet2.edu.