PHILADELPHIA -- The nation’s first 100G open, national-scale, software-defined network—built to support advanced services and cloud applications—is now available to spur new waves of innovation in education, research and industry.

Internet2, operator of the nation’s fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network, announced today at the Fall 2012 Internet2 Member Meeting in Philadelphia that their new 100G-enabled and 8.8 Terabit per second optical network is operational for member institutions.

“We are excited about officially launching the new capabilities of the nation’s first 100G open, national-scale, software-defined network through massive collaboration with our partners in government and business that will be used by Internet2 members to help solve practical, far-reaching problems that benefit society,” said Internet2 CEO and President H. David Lambert. “We look forward to seeing the collaboration of our community using this dynamic network to advance education, transform university business models, and accelerate global Big Data collaborative research outcomes. When we equip the research and education community with great technology and no barriers to innovation, that’s when they start creating the future.”

Internet2