Oxford Networks to extend Jackson, UMaine System data network to Boston
| Date: April 22, 2008 | 
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Oxford Networks of Lewiston, Maine, has contracted with the University of Maine System to help complete Phase 2 of Maine’s Research and Education, or “R&E”, data network they are creating along with The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. Phase 2 will connect the R&E network to Internet2, a highly advanced nationwide network consortium dedicated exclusively to scientific research and education.
Through Internet2, the University System, Jackson and Maine’s R&E community will be able to interface with other R&E entities across the country and world with nearly limitless capacity. This connectivity will assist the University in recruiting efforts to attract students, researchers and faculty, and Jackson in conducting collabortions with biomedical researchers around the world.
In order to complete the fiber optic network expansion to Boston, Oxford Networks will extend its current 600-mile fiber network, which serves customers from Bangor to Portsmouth, N.H. by adding 140 miles of fiber from Portsmouth to Salem, N.H. and then to Boston. Oxford Networks’ existing 600-mile fiber optic network offers critical redundancies and provides much needed bandwidth to customers in communities along its network. This build will be completed by the first quarter of 2009. When completed; the expanded, redundant fiber optic network will initially provide Oxford Networks 10 gigabits of bandwidth from Bangor to Boston with scalability up to 320 gigabits.
“This fiber optic based R&E network is a powerful tool that solidifies Maine’s appeal and potential as a high-tech center of research, development and commercialization of products, technologies and ideas,” states Dr. Richard L. Pattenaude, University of Maine System chancellor. “The expanded capabilities and capacity this network will provide greatly enhance Maine’s ability to attract federal research funding.”
Also included in the contract: Oxford Networks is providing additional fiber, enabling Bowdoin and Bates Colleges to connect to this R&E network.
About Oxford Networks
In addition to enhancing education and research in Maine, Oxford Networks is providing thousands of Maine businesses the opportunity to connect directly with its Fiber Network and receive services, including carrier-class high-speed Internet, local and long-distance telephone services, VLAN (virtual local area network), and metro Ethernet services.
Oxford Networks, headquartered at 491 Lisbon Street in Lewiston, Maine, was founded in Oxford County, Maine, in 1900. With a 600-mile fiber-optic network between Bangor, Maine, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Oxford Networks currently provides Internet, phone, and data services to business and residential customers. For more information, log on to www.oxfordnetworks.com.
About the University of Maine System
Established in 1968, the 44,000-student University of Maine System is the stateÍs largest educational enterprise. It features seven universities Ð some with multiple campuses Ð located across the state, as well as 10 University College outreach centers, a law school, and an additional 75 interactive distance learning sites. For more information, visit www.maine.edu.
About The Jackson Laboratory
The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and NCI-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in West Sacramento, Calif. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community. The Laboratory is the world's source for more than 3,500 strains of genetically defined mice, is home of the Mouse Genome Database and is an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.
Contact(s):
Kristel Wagner, Oxford Networks, kwagner@oxfordnetworks.com, 207-755-9470
John Diamond, University of Maine System, diamond@maine.edu, 207-973-3224
Joyce Peterson, The Jackson Laboratory, joyce.peterson@jax.org, 207-288-6058
For information on automatic email delivery of news releases (journalists only), please send an email request for details to news@jax.org.
Media Relations, Communications Office
The Jackson Laboratory
600 Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609-1500
Phone: 207-288-6051
Fax: 207-288-6076
Email: news@jax.org
