Dec 21, 1998 12:00 PM,

IXC launches Gemini 2000 backbone

Joan Engebretson

Rather than competing head-on with the long-distance carriers that dominate the Internet backbone market, IXC Communications is targeting next generation Internet applications that rely on quality of service. The fiber network operator last week announced that New York, San Francisco and Washington are now operational on its Gemini 2000 OC-48 backbone network. The entire national network is expected to be operational by third quarter 1999.

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"IXC has a real advantage because it's starting with an empty blackboard," said Tim Lance, president and chairman of Nysernet, a consortium of New York universities that is IXC's first backbone customer. Nysernet will use IXC to interconnect its distributed gigaPOPs-next generation Internet points of presence-throughout the state. Participating universities will use the network to support applications such as weather studies that require collecting huge amounts of data from multiple locations and keeping it time-synched.

Regional Internet service provider Applied Theory also will work with IXC to provide QOS, multimedia and other next generation Internet services.

Unlike other next generation Internet projects, including Qwest Communications' Project Abilene and MCI WorldCom's VBNS network, Gemini 2000 will be open to corporations and ISPs, said Dominick DeAngelo, IXC senior vice president of Internet services.

IXC will ensure QOS by using virtual private networks and through a hierarchical mesh network architecture, said DeAngelo. The backbone will have eight regional aggregation points, each with a direct connection to the other seven. By reducing the number of hops that architecture will improve latency, DeAngelo said.

IXC also plans to establish 10 peering points on its network for traffic exchange with other high-speed networks. Initially Gemini 2000 will connect to VBNS through Nysernet and exchange traffic destined for the Internet at public peering points. As traffic builds, DeAngelo expects to attract more partners to its own exchange points.