Overview
One of the goals of The Quilt is to provide advanced network
services at a lower cost. Toward this goal, the coalition of Quilt members
and authorized Quilt Buyers purchase Commodity Internet Services (CIS) through
several approved CIS vendors who participate in the program.
Quilt Participants collectively purchase 43Gbs of committed commodity
bandwidth from Quilt approved vendors established from The Quilt's 4th RFP
effort in the spring of 2006.
The Quilt's Commodity Internet
Service RFP Process
Through the RFP process, our goal is to identify those vendors
who, through their IP transit Internet service offerings, are willing and able
to be partners in the delivery and development of our research and education
networks through the United States. We will look to our approved commodity
internet services vendors for pricing discounts appropriate to our levels of
bandwidth consumption. We seek vendor partners who are not only able to
provide the best value, but are also at the forefront of technology and are
willing to work closely with Quilt members to develop and expand technology
beyond that of a standard provider-customer relationship.
The Quilt's 5th Commodity Internet Service
RFP
As of December 14, 2007, The Quilt
Commodity Internet Services group is now engaged in its fifth extensive,
national review of Internet Service Providers. This RFP is the formal mechanism
for this review. You will find the complete RFP materials available for download
at
http://www.thequilt.net/projcis/2008RFP/2008CISRFPHome.html.
There is a well-defined track record of success for companies who
have created meaningful partnerships with this leading-edge Internet community.
Quilt organizations are consistently early adopters of new technologies,
including but not limited to network circuits and technologies.
Previous RFP Information
Information from the previous four RFP's can be found
here.
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