The Level 3 carrier agreement with Internet2 assures the community unprecedented control over the networking infrastructure, without taking on the risks of equipment sparing and obsolescence as well as the burden of substantial operational responsibilities.

Community control of the new Internet2 Network – provisioning, measurement, and research support at layer 1 – is not dependent on ownership of the infrastructure.  Continuing a successful model in advanced network reliability, the Internet2 – Level 3 partnership allows the community to focus its resources on research and education applications, innovation and partnerships.

The new Internet2 Network will allow the community the ability to provision and switch wavelengths at will, while technology upgrades can be performed when the community requires them.

The partnership with Level 3 allows the community to have direct access to the entire system for management and research purposes, while also allowing for the development and deployment of new dynamic services.

The resources afforded by FiberCo and WaveCo allow regional networks and other Internet2 participants to control strategic assets of their advanced networking. FiberCo enables cost-effective purchase of dedicated dark fiber on a nationwide scale. Through WaveCo, regional networks and other participants can provision circuits – optical carrier and digital signal – at aggregated rates to extend their connectivity anywhere on the Level 3 optical network. 

Under considerably relaxed use constraints in the carrier agreement, Internet2 members may use this infrastructure to carry essentially all traffic generated by the community and its broad set of affiliates and, thus, help establish a firm, long-term network neutrality position for the research and education community.

The basic structure and ideas have been developed for the new Internet2 Network, but there is substantial engagement needed from the community to complete the design.