Internet2 recently unveiled its fifth-generation backbone, known as the Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI). NGI interconnects with 37 state and regional networks and serves every state in the U.S. Among these 37 are the first five to upgrade to 400 gigabits per second connectivity: Florida LambdaRail, Indiana GigaPOP, Mid-Atlantic Crossroads, Ohio Academic Resources Network, and Utah Education and Telehealth Network. In this “First to 400G” blog series, we spotlight each of these networks and how NGI’s new capabilities and capacity meet the needs of the broader research and education communities.

Pankaj Shah is the executive director of the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet). In this Q&A, Pankaj discusses OARnet’s mission in support of the state’s higher education institutions and their partners, the opportunities and challenges driving OARnet constituents’ connectivity needs, and what’s next on the horizon.

Tell us more about OARnet. What is your organization’s mission? What is the scope of the communities and institutions you serve – in other words, who depends on your infrastructure and how do they use it?

Pankaj Shah: The Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), part of the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s OH-TECH consortium, strives to ensure Ohio’s role as a technology leader by implementing next-generation technologies in our network to meet the needs of research, education, government, libraries, and health care communities. By teaming with our communities to develop technology solutions designed to address the demands of an ever-changing environment for the delivery of services, OARnet facilitates innovation as a competitive edge in Ohio’s economic development and prominence as a leader in research and development.

OARnet partners with two state-led initiatives, InnovateOhio and BroadbandOhio, which seek to resolve the digital divide in Ohio by addressing issues of accessibility, affordability, and ease of technology adoption. From small towns to major metropolitan areas in Ohio, we are working to expand the middle mile of the broadband network to reach more communities and also drive down the cost of the last mile of service.

These initiatives are built on public/private partnerships that are critical for their success. A broadband expansion project in the city of East Cleveland, for example, relies on robust collaboration between private entities such as Microsoft and GE Lighting, public entities such as OARnet, Cuyahoga County, Connect-ITC, and the East Cleveland City Schools, and non-profits like PCs for People, just to name a few. [Read full interview at Internet2 | News]

Article author: Amber Rasche, Senior Communications Specialist, Internet2

Newark, NJ, February 22, 2022 – A longtime Edge member, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), recently upgraded their connection to the Edge optical fiber network, EdgeNet, from 2x 10 Gbps to 2x 100 Gbps—making them the first institution in New Jersey to connect to EdgeNet at this advanced speed.

With a greater number of students looking to connect multiple devices and video streaming and gaming systems to the network, FDU set out to refresh their technology and create a proactive strategy that would help address future needs. “We wanted to enable our students and staff to use technology, collaborate with other universities, and utilize other external services at higher data rates,” explains Michael Reekie, Director of Networking, FDU. “We also wished to alleviate any of the bottlenecks in our current environment that could potentially slow down the user experience. Along with updating our core, we also upgraded our wireless and Internet edge to meet the upcoming demands of the new wireless capabilities.”

FDU explored different solutions to help manage traffic, including traffic shapers that are installed at the Internet edge. However, as bandwidth increases, the cost and maintenance of these devices can be expensive. “We found that increasing our bandwidth and installing faster Internet edge routers and firewalls would be a more cost-effective investment and could provide a better user experience for our students and faculty,” says Reekie. “Making the jump from 2x 10 Gbps to 2x 100 Gbps will help us meet our bandwidth requirements over the next several years and with Edge as an existing partner, it was a very easy transition to upgrade our existing connections, while still allowing a highly available networking experience. Edge was able to provide bandwidth to us at a better cost and value than installing technologies that would shape the use of Internet traffic.” [Read the full press release at Edge | News]

A key step in beginning to shape the broadband programs that will result from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is creating the rules that the federal government will use to provide guidance to state grant programs, as well as rules to administer the smaller federal competitive grant programs.

On Jan. 10, 2022, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a request for comments on the agency’s implementation of certain broadband provisions in the IIJA. In response, The Quilt and Internet2 submitted comments last week on behalf of the U.S. research and education networking community. NTIA announced on Feb. 14 that a total of 557 written comments were received.

The key topic areas addressed in the filing include:

• Bringing reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband to all Americans
• Supporting states, territories, and sub-grantees to achieve the goal
• Ensuring all eligible entities, including R&E networks, are considered in state grant programs
• Including educational stakeholders and interests in formulation of local broadband plans
• Establishing clear rules to enable open access to federally funded network facilities
• Establishing strong collaborative partnerships between state, local, and tribal governments
• Considering Digital Equity for higher education and unique needs of all educational institutions and community anchor institutions
• Setting appropriate standards for applicants to the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure (MMBI) grant program

Read NTIA’s request for comments.

Download a copy of The Quilt and Internet2’s filing to learn more.