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17 December 2002

NZ Universities and NGI

NZ Universities on way to Internet2

By RICHARD WOOD, NZ Herald

New Zealand's Next Generation Internet (NGI) consortium has installed
the first "node" that will give the country's universities and
research institutes an Internet 2 advanced research and development
network and connect it to networks worldwide.

The organisation has also laid down the gauntlet to
telecommunications firms to come to the party. Internet 2 technology
provides connectivity at 2.5Gbps and is being taken up by academia
and research organisations globally. By contrast, the high-speed
Jetstream offering from Telecom using ADSL (asymmetric digital
subscriber line) technology provides up to 1.5Mbps.

The NGI consortium comprises 13 organisations so far, including eight
universities, AgResearch, the National Library, Natural History NZ,
InternetN, and the Wellington broadband network provider Citylink. It
costs $15,000 to join.

Consortium chairman Neil James said a fulltime chief executive would
be appointed by Christmas, an incorporated body formed early next
year and the network connecting the major cities would be built by
next September.

James said the ball was in the telcos' court to get involved.

"We are open but we believe if we are forced into it we will find a
way to build the network without their co-operation."

Consortium technical adviser Roger De Salis, managing director of the
voice over internet protocol (VoIP) firm FX Networks, said local
telecommunication firms had adopted a "wait and see" approach and
this first step was a message to them to "sharpen their pencils".

"We'd like their help, but this is going to happen. We would like the
phone companies to provide the bandwidth we require at appropriate
prices."

The consortium has installed two Cisco GSR124000 routers at the
University of Auckland which will initially be linked through to
research-oriented Internet 2 backbones in Sydney and the US. Talks
are underway with three global carriers.

University of Auckland network architecture manager Tim Chaffe said
many academics already required a higher peak performance than was
available, for example in work with 3D immersive environments.

This required a larger "pipe" size than a university could
individually justify. "We're trying to get up there with Australia
and America. Otherwise New Zealand will be left stranded," he said.

De Salis said New Zealand was late in the Internet 2 game because of
a lack of Government involvement.

The NGI consortium was seeking a private/public sector partnership to
provide funding and aimed to make the network available for use by
commercial organisations as well due to the size of New Zealand and
way research was done here.

"This leads to the idea of a virtual science park throughout New
Zealand where peer companies can talk to universities for that
reason," said De Salis.

Firms such as Weta Digital such as Weta Digital with high bandwidth
would be companies of interest.

De Salis said the network would not provide competition to existing
telcos in the near term because it was focused on universities,
research and science park activities. James said that while
commercial users would be allowed, they would likely face the cost of
joining the consortium and there might be limitations on whom could
join.

De Salis said the plan also complemented the Government's rural Probe project.