The Works of DANTE

A bi-monthly electronic newsletter reporting on the activities of DANTE, the company that organises pan-European research network services for the European research community.

No.19, February 1997

TEN-34: FIRST BITS FLOW

The implementation of the TEN-34 network is making good progress, and connections are starting to become available. The first part of the network, the ATM virtual path between France and the United Kingdom has just been tested successfully on the ATM level and will probably be tested on the IP level on 3 March 1997. Following a successful completion of the tests the circuit will immediately be used to carry production traffic, initially between the two countries. More ATM virtual paths and one leased line (between Switzerland and Germany) will become available in that week and the next, completing most of the 'FUDI' side of the network: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. All links will be used for production traffic as soon as the ATM and IP tests have been successfully completed.

The managed IP subnetwork of TEN-34, which is being installed by Unisource, is expected become available during the second half of March. This part of the TEN-34 network will link the countries United Kingdom, Sweden (and the Nordic countries), Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain. Following an acceptance test on this part of the network, it is expected to carry production traffic from late March, completing the biggest part of the TEN-34 network.

The other countries to join the network will do so in several phases thereafter. Greece is expected to join by the end of March, Austria and Hungary in May, Luxembourg in October. No dates are known yet for Belgium and Portugal. Ireland will be connected through the United Kingdom.

TEN-34: A FLOOD OF CONTRACTS

TEN-34 is setting records in several ways, one of which is the number of contracts involved. All in all the implementation and testing of the network involves the signature of over 30 contracts among over 30 contracting parties. These include the National Research Networks, DANTE, the Telecom Operators, and a number of User Groups. The contracts cover service provision, facility management, network testing and hardware maintenance. The contracts cover a 15-18 months service period while it took twelve months to get them in place. This is not an ideal situation. One of the lessons learnt from the TEN-34 implementation is that a pan-European approach in network provision, e.g. by means of a tender process (or a small number of tenders), is a better way forward for European research networking.

A DANTE POP IN THE US?

When DANTE first started providing Intercontinental connectivity in 1994, it was provided on two shared circuits, a T1 circuit (1.5 Mbps) from Geneva and an E1 (2 Mbps) circuit from Amsterdam. This was shared among a number of customers who used EuropaNET to access the capacity. The arrangement was successful technically as long as the total usage was within the capacity available. It was successful commercially since there were very significant economies of scale in purchasing T1 or E1 capacity, both for the US circuits and for transit within Europe, when compared with slower speeds. Thus a shared facility was of benefit to those who could only afford limited connectivity.

As volumes of traffic grew this approach would not scale, mainly from a commercial point of view. The economies of scale that were available at speeds up to T1/E1 did not exist at higher speeds and the next building block 34/45 Mbps, whilst cheaper per Mbps, were too expensive to justify. The solution was to implement a mixed solution of dedicated and shared capacity based on multiple T1 circuits. There were purchasing economies of scale to be achieved by pooling European procurement of these circuits which were reflected into pricing.

Total intercontinental capacity has continued to grow to the point where a number of networks are now implementing 45 Mbps circuits. European distribution costs are also reducing as a result of the implementation of TEN-34. One cost factor that has however remained stubbornly resistant to change is the unwillingness of the US Internet service providers to contribute anything to the cost of what are in practice shared facilities with shared benefits.

In order to manage this rapidly changing environment DANTE has been examining the possibility of establishing its own Point of Presence in the USA. The establishment of the Point of Presence would have the advantage of providing a degree of commercial stability and allow a more flexible approach to provision of connectivity as the economics of trans-Atlantic capacity continue to change. It could be available for both dedicated and shared capacity. Currently planning is focused on the location of the PoP and the logistics of implementation. We expect to finalise these within the next few weeks.

PHARE: MISSION NEARLY COMPLETED

DANTE's work in managing the PHARE 1994 R&D Networking Programme is largely complete; new or upgraded services to nine of the eleven PHARE countries have been in service for some time, the Bulgarian connection is progressing well, leaving just one difficult case: Albania.

In Albania the solution is to bypass the old local telecommunications infrastructure completely, using a 64 kbps satellite connection into Tirana and microwave connections around the capital to other sites. A major obstacle to progress at the moment is the Albanian Customs where a part of the installation has been stuck for several weeks now. Normally the import duties and VAT amount to more than 50% of the equipment cost, and for our Albanian colleagues to avoid paying this involves a lot of paperwork and time. The satellite dish was due to be shipped from Madrid by truck. An unfortunate coincidence was that the Spanish truck drivers went on strike.

Bulgaria was included in the PHARE 1991 Programme but the contractor at the time did not manage to get a circuit installed before the contract period expired. Things have now improved. There is a good fibre connection (via Greece) into Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, so making the two 64k channels that were ordered from Amsterdam to sites in Sofia should have been relatively easy. This approach was eventually defeated by the ancient twisted pairs in the ground within Sofia. This forced a rethink: at least one of the two 64 kbps circuits, which was delivered on the 26th of February, terminates in a router at the PTT building. This is connected via a 2 Mbps local loop to the Bulgarian academic network; providing a 2 Mbps local loop is evidently easier than a 64 kbps tail circuit. Discussions are still going on about how to connect the second circuit.

NEW STAFF

DANTE's TEN-34 project team is getting assistance from Jan Wijgerde (BE), who will work for DANTE as consultant. Jan will be monitoring progress made in implementing the network by the participating Telecom Operators. Jan's previous involvement with research networking goes back a few years to the COSINE Project Management Unit. Most recently he worked for the European Commission. His e-mail address is Jan.Wijgerde@dante.org.uk.

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