DANTE, a UK-based, non-profit operator of large academic research networks, will purchase inter- city dark fibre from Level 3 connecting the cities of London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris. DANTE is also leasing colocation space in Level 3 data centres in London, Brussels and Dusseldorf as part of the transaction.
DANTE is currently building a next-generation European research network known as GEANT2, which will service more than 3 million users across 34 countries.
http://www.level3.com/
- In June 2005, Alcatel’s optical gear was selected for GÉANT2, the successor to Europe’s current academic research network. GÉANT2, which promises a total network of nearly 500 Gbps, will connect research facilities in thirty-four countries, including major European sites in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Ireland, Portugal and Greece. The network will deliver multiple, switched 10Gbps links to its major hubs. It will be managed by the Alcatel 1350 management suite and include the Alcatel 1626 Light Manager DWDM platform for ultra long-haul applications and the 1678 Metro Core Connect (MCC).
- Financially, GEANT2 is the result of joint efforts at European and national level. The European Commission contributes EUR 93 million to this project, just under half the total cost. The rest is funded by national research and education networks.
- TeliaSonera has been selected as the major carrier to DANTE.
- The GÉANT network has been in full production service since December 2001. It replaced the previous TEN-155 network.