Tw telecom inc., a provider of managed voice, Internet and data networking solutions, reportedly has deployed a dedicated 600 Megabit Ethernet connection to the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative.

 

Tw telecom’s Internet solution would be deployed and managed by LONI to connect Louisiana’s 12 major research universities in order to improve collaboration on research projects and deliver results faster, with greater accuracy.

 

“The business relationship we have with tw telecom is integral to LONI’s success,” said Charles McMahon, executive director of LONI and Louisiana State University deputy chief information officer. “LONI relies heavily on our communications providers to build capacity for the state’s researchers. Tw telecom’s addition of a 600 Megabit Ethernet connection will positively impact our state’s research and academic missions.”

 

“Our researchers are involved in hurricane modeling and forecasting efforts as well as advancing biotechnology and other extensive high-performance computation projects that are dependant on high bandwidth connections,” said Les Guice, LONI management council chair and Louisiana Tech University vice president for research and development.

 “Tw telecom provides our member institutions with the bandwidth that enables these research collaborations that are so important to our state.”

 

The Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, or LONI, is a state-of-the-art, fiber optics network that runs throughout Louisiana, and connects Louisiana and Mississippi research universities to one another as well as National LambdaRail and Internet2.

 

LONI connects Louisiana’s major research universities allowing greater collaboration on research that produces results faster and with greater accuracy. LONI provides Louisiana researchers with one of the most advanced optical networks in the country and the most powerful distributed supercomputer resources available to any academic community with over 85 teraflops of computational capacity.

 

“LONI and its affiliated colleges and universities have a fast and reliable 1 Gbps interface to our nationwide network that will further enable them in their mission to support the education of students across Louisiana,” said Mike Nictakis, vice president and general manager for tw telecom in Louisiana. “Twenty four hours a day, our 10 Gbps national network delivers critical, high bandwidth connectivity to higher education and business across the country.”

 

Tw telecom inc., headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, provides managed network services, specializing in Ethernet and transport data networking, Internet access, local and long distance voice, VoIP, VPN and security, to enterprise organizations and communications services companies throughout the United States.

 

As a provider of integrated and converged network solutions, tw telecom delivers customers overall economic value, quality, service, and improved business productivity.