Canada builds super-fast communications network

CANARIE, Canada’s advanced internet development organization, is building a new version of the high speed network that links researchers and scientists across the country. CA*net 4 will be based on point-to-point optical wavelengths and will be one of the fastest networks in the world. Whereas a decade ago with CA*net 1, a user could download the Canadian Encyclopedia in nine minutes, with CA*net 3 they could do it instantaneously. Now CA*net 4 is eight times as fast again.
A $110 million funding agreement for the project was announced at the end of April by Industry Canada and CANARIE Chief Executive OfficerAndrew Bjerring. The construction was to start immediately with the network’s launch scheduled for the fall. It will be built in partnership with the private sector and with participating provincial research networks.
Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development Maurizio Bevilacqua made the funding announcement in Ottawa. “CA*net 4 provides Canadian researchers with the network essential for innovation in the 21st century,” he said. “Our goal is to make Canada one of the top five countries in the world for research and development performance by 2010 and the network is fundamental to achieving this.”
CANARIE is a not-for-profit corporation supported by members, project partners and the federal government. Based in Ottawa, its mission is to accelerate Canada’s advanced internet development.