United States General Accounting Office
_____________________________________________________________________________
GAO Report to Congressional Requesters
_____________________________________________________________________________
August 1991 HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING
High-Speed Computer
Networks in the United
States, Europe, and Japan
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GAO/IMTEC-91-69
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i
_____________________________________________________________________________
GAO United States
General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548
______________________________________________________
Information Management and
Technology Division
B-245190
September 4, 1991
The Honorable Ernest F. Hollings
Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
The Honorable Albert Gore
Chairman, Subcommittee on Science,
Technology, and Space
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation
United States Senate
The Honorable George E. Brown, Jr.
Chairman, House Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology
House of Representatives
The Honorable Robert S. Walker
Ranking Minority Member
House Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology
House of Representatives
The Honorable Tim Valentine
Chairman, Subcommittee on Technology
and Competitiveness
House Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology
House of Representatives
The Honorable Tom Lewis
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Technology
and Competitiveness
House Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology
House of Representatives
Page 2 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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_____________________________________________________________________________
In letters dated October 2, 1990, and March 11, 1991,
you requested that we review United States and foreign
efforts to develop high-speed computer networks. In
response to your requests, this report provides
information on United States, European, and Japanese
efforts to develop high-speed computer networks.
Because high-speed computer networks used for research
and education are of primary interest in the United
States, the report specifically focuses on these types
of applications.
In conducting our review, we identified high-speed
networks, or in cases where none existed, lower-speed
networks that were considered to be important for
research and education. We defined high-speed
networks as those capable of transmitting data at, or
greater than, T1 speeds of 1.544 megabits per second,
or E1 speeds of 2.048 megabits per second.#1 European
and Japanese networks were identified with the
assistance of experts familiar with their use of
computer and communications technology.#2 Detailed
descriptions of the United States, European, and
Japanese networking initiatives we observed are
contained in appendixes I, II, and III, respectively.
Appendix IV provides additional information on the
objectives, scope, and methodology of our review, and
appendixes V and VI identify the government entities
and other organizations that we contacted in Europe
and Japan.
#####################________________________________________________________
RESULTS IN BRIEF Currently, the United States leads Europe and Japan in
the development of high-speed computer networks for
research and education. Efforts to increase data
transmission speeds on a major portion of the United
States' Internet to 1.544 megabits per second (T1) and
45 megabits per second (T3), and plans to develop a
National Research and Education Network (NREN)
operating at gigabit speeds,#3 exceed most plans and
initiatives occurring in Europe and Japan at this
time. Although some questions concerning the
development and operation of NREN must still be
______________________________________________________
1 T1 is the term commonly used for the high-
speed digital standard in the United States and other
countries such as Japan and Korea. Europe has
standardized on E1, which differs from T1 in speed,
signalling methods, and number of voice circuits
supported.
2 We limited our review to five European
countries--France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom.
3 A gigabit equals one billion bits.
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answered, federal and academic sponsors of this
networking initiative are nonetheless moving
aggressively on this effort.
Although their networks are generally less developed
than those in the United States, Europe and Japan
clearly recognize the importance of high-speed
networks, and have plans and projects under way to
enhance the speed and capability of these networks.
Some European participants, in particular, believe the
United States' proposed NREN represents the kind of
network that is needed in Europe. Presently, however,
Europe and Japan face a number of financial,
organizational, and other issues, which if not
addressed, could prevent the development or expansion
of their network infrastructures. European and
Japanese officials told us they are working to resolve
these issues. If they are successful in these
efforts, Europe and Japan may be able to strengthen
their positions in advancing research and education
through the use of high-speed computer networks.
#####################________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND Computer networks enable both local and long distance
communication between computers, often over public
telephone lines, but also via dedicated switching and
transmission systems. Computer networks transmit data
at various speeds to meet the needs of many different
user communities throughout the world. Traditionally,
computer networks transmitted data at relatively low
speeds measured primarily in kilobits per second. The
early 1980s, however, saw a growing demand for
increasingly higher-speed computer networks.
Currently, regional and wide-area national networks
operate at T1 speeds of 1.544 megabits per second in
the United States or E1 speeds of 2.048 megabits per
second in some European countries. Local-area
networks transmitting data at speeds of between 10
megabits per second and 100 megabits per second also
exist. These higher-speed networks have fueled the
market for a variety of applications, including
electronic mail, distributed data base access, large
file transfer, and graphics transmission.
Although regional and wide-area networks transmitting
data at speeds of between 1 and 2 megabits per second
are generally considered sufficient for many network
applications, sophisticated advances in computer and
communications technologies and increased volumes and
complexity of data traffic have contributed to a
growing demand for higher-capacity networks that are
capable of transmitting data at T3 speeds of 45
megabits per second, and up to a gigabit per second.
One sector of society expressing a need for the
higher-speed networks is the research and education
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community. Scholars, researchers, executives, and
politicians in both the United States and overseas
recognize the importance of networking to access
unique experimental data, share results and
publications, and run models on remote supercomputers.
###################__________________________________________________________
NETWORKING IN THE The United States research and education communities
UNITED STATES are served primarily by the Internet, a loosely
organized system of interconnected, unclassified
computer networks linking over 500,000 computers
nationwide and overseas. The United States' portion
of the Internet includes government-funded national
backbone networks and publicly and privately funded
regional networks operating at 1.544 megabits per
second (T1), as well as private local-area networks
transmitting data at speeds of 10 megabits per second
to 100 megabits per second. One of the major backbone
networks comprising the United States' portion of the
Internet is the National Science Foundation Network
(NSFNet).#4 NSFNet links more than 3,000 networks at
university and college campuses, business and
industrial research laboratories, and governmental
research centers throughout the world.
Currently, the United States' portion of the Internet
is experiencing rapid growth in the number of networks
and host computers connected to it, and is unable to
satisfy all requirements of the research and education
community. Traffic on NSFNet, alone, has increased by
more than 25 times in the last 2 years. Approximately
3 million researchers worldwide actively use the
academic networks connected to the Internet. In
addition, supercomputers and other sophisticated
applications used by some organizations require
higher speeds than are currently available on the
existing networks.
To enhance network services for the research and
education community, federal sponsors and academic
participants plan to transform the United States'
portion of the Internet into a higher-speed network
with nationwide coverage. Toward this goal, the
National Science Foundation (NSF) has upgraded most
telecommunications links on the NSFNet backbone to
transmit data at a speed of 1.544 megabits per second,
and is further increasing data transmission speeds to
45 megabits per second for some agencies. On a
______________________________________________________
4 Other federal agencies operating networks on
the Internet include the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, the
Department of Health and Human Services, and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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broader scale, the Congress is considering
legislation and plans for developing NREN operating at
gigabit speeds. NREN is expected to emerge from and
expand existing capabilities of the United States'
portion of the Internet. As envisioned, this network
ultimately will be capable of transmitting end-to-end
at rates of between 1 and 3 billion bits of data per
second--approximately 50,000 typed pages per second--
and will connect researchers in industry and academia
to supercomputers and other information resources
around the country.
Plans for creating NREN are being led at the federal
level by the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy and the Federal Networking Council,
a collaboration of various agencies, including NSF,
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and
Human Services, and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. The President's fiscal year 1992
budget request seeks $92 million for work related to
developing NREN. In addition, the Corporation for
National Research Initiatives, a nonprofit
organization created in 1986, has received a 3-year
award of approximately $15.8 million from NSF and
DARPA to lead research to determine the technology and
possible structure of a gigabit network and identify
possible end-user requirements for such a network. As
NREN's infrastructure takes shape, however, its
sponsors are being tasked to answer questions
concerning how the network should be managed, funded,
and secured. One central question, for example, is
whether management of NREN should be decentralized
among network researchers, users, and sponsors, or
whether one organization should assume a dominant role
in its management.
#####################________________________________________________________
EUROPEAN RESEARCH European research and education communities are
AND EDUCATION supported by an infrastructure of national and pan-
NETWORKS European networks. Generally, the European networks
are slower than networks existing in the United
States. Many of the national networks, such as the
ones we reviewed in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
and the United Kingdom, were created in the mid to
late 1980s through government initiatives to provide
scientific and technical research capabilities within
individual countries. These networks connect
universities and research institutions at data
transmission speeds ranging from 64 kilobits per
second to 2 megabits per second. Overall, the
national networks provide good levels of connectivity
and service within the countries they serve.
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The pan-European networks, which enable cross-border
communications between countries, provide slower and
less extensive service than the national networks.
Most of the existing pan-European networks, such as
the European Academic Research Network and the High
Energy Physics Network, are designed to meet the needs
of specific user groups and do not provide a general-
purpose backbone infrastructure to connect all of the
national networks. The pan-European networks
generally operate at relatively low speeds of 4.8 to
64 kilobits per second.
The Commission of the European Communities,#5 national
network operators, and various associations of
European networks and users believe that more capable,
higher-speed research and education networks are
needed in Europe. Moreover, some of these
participants view the United States' proposed NREN as
an example of what is needed. In response to
increasing needs, national network operators in the
countries we observed either have already begun
upgrading existing networks or plan to develop high-
speed networks over the next few years. In addition,
European network organizations and the Commission of
the European Communities told us that progress is
being made toward establishing a pan-European
backbone network linking the national networks. Some
officials noted that higher speeds could be available
on a pan-European network by the mid-1990s.
European officials told us that several issues,
unless resolved, may slow or prevent progress on
planned enhancements to the national research and
education networks and implementation of a high-
speed, pan-European backbone network. According to
these officials, although much of the technology
needed to implement a pan-European network is
available, issues concerning how to organize and fund
the network still need to be addressed. Some
officials reported that Europe currently lacks a
cohesive central organizational structure and a
supportive regulatory environment to guide the pan-
European initiatives. In the absence of central
leadership, cross-border telecommunications services
are difficult and expensive to obtain. Various
organizations, such as the European Engineering
Planning Group (EEPG) and the Reseaux Associes pour la
______________________________________________________
5 The Commission of the European Communities
proposes and enforces policies and laws that apply to
the 12 countries making up the European Community--
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
and the United Kingdom.
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Recherche Europeenne (RARE), an association of
networking organizations and users in Europe, are
optimistic that these issues can be resolved and have
taken steps toward this goal. RARE has sponsored
networking symposiums to highlight user needs for
high-speed networks and EEPG has proposed an
organization structure and approaches for funding and
implementing a pan-European backbone network.
#####################________________________________________________________
JAPANESE RESEARCH In Japan, various government-funded and privately
AND EDUCATION operated computer networks support research and
NETWORKS education. However, some Japanese officials believe
that fewer and less advanced networks exist in Japan
than in the United States. The existing networks
connect Japan's major universities, and enable
communications between researchers at other
laboratories and research facilities. Generally,
these networks do not have high-speed data
transmission capabilities. Among the networks that we
observed, only one, the Science Information Network
operated by the National Center for Science
Information System, provided a high-speed (T1)
backbone. Most of Japan's other research and
education networks operate at relatively low speeds of
192 kilobits per second or less.
Japanese officials considered high-speed networks to
be important for research and education and told us
that government and privately sponsored initiatives
are being actively pursued to enhance Japan's computer
networking capabilities. One of Japan's most
significant undertakings involves its recently
announced plans to invest approximately $250 billion
to equip businesses and homes with a broadband
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) by the year
2015. Under this plan, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation (NTT) will use fiber-optic cable to link
Japanese homes and businesses, enabling the
transmission of digitized voice, data, and video
traffic, and providing a standard way for computers
and other equipment to share information at high
speeds. NTT envisions providing such advanced
services as 3-D video communications and automatic
translation communications.
Japan's success in developing a broadband ISDN and
other high-speed computer networks may depend on
factors such as its ability to obtain the necessary
funding for these efforts and to gain coordinated
support from the Japanese government ministries. Some
network operators and representatives of the Japanese
ministries believe that increasing the number and
capability of computer networks will, in part, depend
on how well the networks compete with other programs
Page 8 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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for government funding. In addition, successful
implementation of the broadband ISDN may require more
accurate definition of customer needs for this
service.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The information in this report is based primarily on
testimonial evidence. Although we did not
independently verify its validity and accuracy, we did
discuss the information with various government
officials and representatives of European and Japanese
networking organizations, and have included their
comments where appropriate. Our work was performed
from October 1990 to June 1991.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly
announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan
no further distribution until 30 days from the date of
this letter. At that time, we will send copies to
interested congressional committees and others upon
request. Should you have any questions concerning
this report, please contact me at (202) 275-3195. The
major contributors to this report are listed in
appendix VII.
Jack L. Brock, Jr.
Director
Government Information
and Financial Management
Page 9 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
#####################________________________________________________________
LETTER 1
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX I 13
UNITED STATES PLANS Description of the Internet Infrastructure 13
FOR BUILDING THE Creation of a National Research and Education 15
NATIONAL RESEARCH AND Network
EDUCATION NETWORK Issues Need to Be Addressed to Implement NREN 16
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX II 18
HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER National Networks Provide Connectivity and Service 18
NETWORKS SUPPORTING Within Their Respective Countries
RESEARCH AND Pan-European Networks Meet the Needs of Specific 24
EDUCATION IN EUROPE Groups
Need for an Improved High-Speed Pan-European 26
Research and Education Backbone Network
Organization and Funding Issues Must Be Resolved 30
to Implement a Pan-European Backbone Network
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX III 32
HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER Japanese Research and Education Networks Provide 32
NETWORKS SUPPORTING Relatively Low-Speed Capability
RESEARCH AND Plans for Future Networks in Japan 36
EDUCATION IN JAPAN Issues Affecting Japan's Future Development of 39
Computer Networks
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX IV 40
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE,
AND METHODOLOGY
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX V 42
ORGANIZATIONS AND European Countries 42
ENTITIES CONTACTED Pan-European Representatives 43
REGARDING EUROPEAN
NETWORKS
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX VI 44
ORGANIZATIONS AND
ENTITIES CONTACTED
REGARDING JAPANESE
NETWORKS
#####################________________________________________________________
APPENDIX VII 45
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
TO THIS REPORT
Page 10 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Contents
_____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Abbreviations
ATM asynchronous transfer mode
BITnet Because It's Time Network
CERN Centre Europeenne pour la Recherche
Nucl aire
COSINE Cooperation of Open Systems
Interconnection Networking in Europe
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency
DECNET Digital Equipment Corporation Network
DFN Deutsche Forschungsnetz
EARN European Academic Research Network
EASInet European Academic Supercomputer
Initiative Network
ECU European currency unit
EEPG European Engineering Planning Group
GAO General Accounting Office
GARR Group for the Harmonization of Research
Networks
HEPnet High-Energy Physics Network
IBC integrated broadband communication
IBM International Business Machines
Corporation
IMTEC Information Management and Technology
Division
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
IXI International X.25 Infrastructure
JANET Joint Academic Network
JICST Japan Information Center of Science and
Technology
JUNET Japanese University Network
KEK National Laboratory for High-Energy
Physics
MITI Ministry of International Trade and
Industry
NACSIS National Center for Science Information
System
NREN National Research and Education Network
NSF National Science Foundation
NSFNet National Science Foundation Network
NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation
OSI Open Systems Interconnection
PACCOM Pacific Area Computer Communication
PTM packet transfer mode
PTT Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone
Administration
RACE Research and Development in Advanced
Communications Technologies in
Europe
RARE Res aux Associes pour la Recherche
Europeenne
Page 11 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Contents
_____________________________________________________________________________
SURF Samenwerkende Universitaire
Rekenfaciliteiten
TCP/IP transmission control protocol/internet
protocol
WIDE Widely Integrated Distributed
Environment
Page 12 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix I
_____________________________________________________________________________
UNITED STATES PLANS FOR BUILDING THE
NATIONAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK
____________________________________________________________________________
To better support research and education in the United
States, federal and academic sponsors have proposed
developing the National Research and Education Network
(NREN). As planned, NREN will provide a high-
capacity, high-quality network infrastructure to
ultimately transport digitized information at several
billion bits per second between high-performance
computational resources, such as supercomputers, and
individual workstations. NREN will build on the
United States' portion of the Internet, the existing
system of loosely connected, unclassified networks
that links computers nationwide and overseas.
Currently, the number of networks and computers
connected to the Internet is increasing rapidly, as
are demands for greater network capacity to support
researchers in conducting complex analyses combining
local and remote resources. NREN supporters envision
creating a network that will meet increased demands
for a higher-speed computer network offering
nationwide coverage.
#####################________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION OF The Internet consists of over 5,000 interconnected
THE INTERNET networks that link approximately 500,000 computers
INFRASTRUCTURE worldwide. The United States' portion of the Internet
consists of government-funded national backbone
networks, publicly and privately supported regional
networks, and local-area campus networks. Some of the
regional and backbone networks comprising the United
States' portion of the Internet transmit data at a
speed of 1.544 megabits per second (T1). Private
local-area networks on the Internet operate at data
transmission speeds of 10 to 100 megabits per second.
One of the major backbone networks on the United
States' portion of the Internet is the National
Science Foundation network (NSFNet). NSFNet connects
more than 3,000 networks at university and college
campuses, businesses, industrial research
laboratories, and governmental research centers
worldwide.
Management of the Internet is decentralized. Each of
the networks within the Internet is operated
independently and has its own operations center that
monitors and maintains its portion of the Internet.
Funding for the United States' portion of the Internet
comes from the five federal agencies operating
Page 13 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Appendix I
United States Plans for Building the National
Research and Education Network
_____________________________________________________________________________
national research networks and from universities,
states, and private companies that operate and use the
local and regional networks.#6 Participating
institutions generally pay fixed annual fees to
connect to the regional networks of between $10,000 to
$50,000 per year, depending on the size of the
institution and the carrying capacity of the
telecommunications channel connecting it to the
network.
Researchers use the Internet for a variety of
applications. For example, electronic mail provides a
way of sending person-to-person messages almost
instantaneously, enabling researchers separated by
thousands of miles to collaborate. Other uses of the
Internet include file transfer, access to software and
document libraries, and remote access to computer data
banks and supercomputers. Access to supercomputers,
in particular, has had a dramatic impact on scientific
endeavors. Experiments that took years to complete on
an ordinary computer can be performed in days or weeks
on a supercomputer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Limitations of Presently, the number of users of the Internet is
the Existing growing, as is the need for more extensive high-speed
Infrastructure data networking capacity. Approximately 3 million
researchers worldwide actively use the academic
networks connected to the Internet. Data traffic on
the NSFnet backbone alone has increased by more than
25 times in the last 2 years. As a result of its
continual growth, the United States' portion of the
Internet is unable to satisfy all the requirements of
the research and education community. In addition,
supercomputers and other sophisticated applications
used by some organizations require higher speeds than
are currently available on the existing networks.
______________________________________________________
6 The five federal agencies operating research
networks on the Internet are the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, the National Science
Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the
Department of Health and Human Services.
Page 14 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Appendix I
United States Plans for Building the National
Research and Education Network
_____________________________________________________________________________
#####################________________________________________________________
CREATION OF A The President's fiscal year 1992 budget requests $92
NATIONAL RESEARCH million for development of NREN. In addition, the
AND EDUCATION Congress is considering legislation supporting its
NETWORK development. The proposed High-Performance Computing
and Communications Act of 1991, for example, would
authorize the creation of a multi-gigabit-per-second
computer network linking government, researchers,
businesses, consumers, and schools in every state.
NREN is intended to dramatically expand and enhance
the capabilities of the United States' Internet. As
envisioned, NREN ultimately will be capable of
transmitting end-to-end at rates of between 1 and 3
billion bits (gigabits) of data per second--the
equivalent of about 50,000 typed pages every second.
Such capacity is expected to greatly enhance the
ability of researchers to perform complex analyses
using remote resources. For example, users will be
able to share libraries, data bases, supercomputers,
and other scientific technologies to perform
computational analyses and simulations that generate
very large, complex data, graphics, or video files.
Development of NREN is planned to occur in three
phases. The first phase, begun in 1988, involved
upgrading all telecommunications links within the
NSFNet backbone to 1.544 megabits per second (T1).
This upgrade has been completed for most agencies.
The second phase, which is now under way, will provide
upgraded services for 200 to 300 research facilities,
using a shared backbone network with a carrying
capacity of 45 megabits per second (T3). The third
phase, which will result in a gigabit-speed NREN
operating at roughly 50 times T3 speeds, is expected
to begin during the mid-1990s, if the necessary
technology and funding are available.
Plans for creating NREN are being overseen at the
federal level by the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy and the Federal Networking Council,
a collaboration of NSF, DARPA, National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, the Department of Energy,
and the Department of Health and Human Services. As
provided for in the Office of Science and Technology
Policy plan, NSF will serve as the lead agency for
coordinating the deployment of the operational NREN,
and DARPA will lead research and development on
advanced networking technology.
Page 15 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Appendix I
United States Plans for Building the National
Research and Education Network
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Research and Various research efforts are being conducted to yield
Development for a insights into the design and development of gigabit
Gigabit Network network technology. One major project is being led by
the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a
nonprofit organization, which received a 3-year award
of approximately $15.8 million from NSF and DARPA to
lead the research on gigabit technology. This
research, which involves collaborators from
universities, national laboratories, supercomputer
centers, and major industrial organizations, is
intended to advance the technology and understanding
of requirements for high-speed networking by (1)
developing architectural alternatives for
consideration in determining the possible structure of
a wide-area gigabit network, and (2) exploring
possible applications for such a network. Presently,
gigabit testbed facilities are being developed, and
work on the gigabit network applications has begun.
The gigabit research project revolves around a set of
five testbeds, each with its own research objective
and distinct research staff. For example, one testbed
is exploring switching technology to determine whether
packet transfer mode or asynchronous transfer mode#7
is best suited for NREN. Other testbeds are studying
different applications, such as weather modeling,
detection of earthquakes, and cancer research, to
assess whether they can be supported on NREN. A mid-
course review of the progress of these testbeds is
scheduled for mid-September 1991.
#####################________________________________________________________
ISSUES NEED TO BE As developers of NREN move to shape its
ADDRESSED TO infrastructure, they are being confronted with
IMPLEMENT NREN various policy issues concerning how the network
should be developed and organized. These issues have
raised questions about the technology, security,
management, and funding of computer networks and
resources that will be linked to NREN. As previously
discussed, developing NREN is expected to require
major departures from existing network technology to
handle networks operating at gigabit speeds. Some
______________________________________________________
7 Packet transfer mode (PTM) and asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) are two switching approaches. PTM
is based on variable-sized packets and is a method
being pursued within the data communications industry.
ATM uses small, fixed-size data packets, and is the
current proposal within the telephone carrier
standards community for the next generation of network
switching technology.
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United States Plans for Building the National
Research and Education Network
_____________________________________________________________________________
experts have questioned whether existing computer
architectures, operating systems, and protocols are
able to respond to gigabit speeds. It is expected
that in some cases, new computer interfaces, switches,
and data communication protocols will be required.
In addition, questions remain concerning how the
collection of networks comprising NREN should be
managed. The collaboration among network researchers,
users, and sponsors that has guided the growth of
existing academic and research networks is considered
by some to be inadequate for managing NREN.
Currently, no single entity within the federal
establishment, higher education, or industry is
thought to be capable of ensuring the reliable and
timely introduction of improved networking services,
technology, and capacity.
Another issue concerns the privacy of information
carried over NREN. Open access to NREN is an
essential element in creating an electronic community
of researchers with the broadest possible
participation by individuals and organizations in
government, education, and industry. Maintaining an
open and easily accessible network that protects the
privacy and valuable resources of its users will
require a balance of legal and technological controls.
Realizing the benefits of NREN also will require major
financial investments over the next decade; however,
no decision on who will make these investments has yet
been reached. Although the federal government has
thus far played a dominant role in financing research
networks, questions remain as to whether it can and
should be the sole provider for the development and
deployment of a gigabit NREN, or whether financing
should be a shared responsibility of federal research
sponsors, educational agencies and institutions, and
participating private sector organizations.
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_____________________________________________________________________________
HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER NETWORKS SUPPORTING
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN EUROPE
_____________________________________________________________________________
European research and education is supported by an
infrastructure of national and pan-European networks.
Although the national networks generally provide good
levels of connectivity and service within individual
countries, the pan-European links, which enable
cross-border communications between countries, are
relatively slower and serve more limited numbers of
users. Various European networking organizations,
national network operators, and the Commission of the
European Communities, which makes policies and laws
that apply to the European Community members,#8
believe that the network infrastructures in place do
not adequately support all research and education
needs, and are acting to increase the speed and
capability of the national networks and establish a
reliable pan-European network infrastructure. While
most officials are optimistic that higher-speed
networking capabilities will emerge in Europe, they
recognize that various funding and management issues
must first be resolved. All of the national network
operators told us that the high cost of
telecommunications services in Europe limits their
plans to upgrade networks.
#####################________________________________________________________
NATIONAL NETWORKS In Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United
PROVIDE CONNECTIVITY Kingdom, national networks connect universities and
AND SERVICE WITHIN research institutions at speeds ranging from 64
THEIR RESPECTIVE kilobits per second to 2 megabits per second.#9 Some
COUNTRIES of the networks are based on the X.25
telecommunications protocol supporting other protocols
at higher layers. Other networks support, or will
soon support, multiple protocols, including the
______________________________________________________
8 The European Community members are Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the
United Kingdom.
9 Other European countries such as Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, and Norway also have computer
networks operating at these speeds; however, these
countries were not included in our review.
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Internet Protocol.#10 All of these networks receive
financial support from their national governments.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Germany's National The German national research and education network,
Research Network called the Deutsche Forschungsnetz (DFN), was
established in 1984. This network is managed by the
DFN Association, which has more than 250
institutional members, including universities,
national research centers, and industrial companies.
The DFN Association contracts with the Deutsche
Bundespost, Germany's Postal, Telegraph, and
Telephone Administration (PTT), for the DFN network
and related services. Currently, DFN links all of
Germany's universities and research centers using an
X.25 backbone service called WIN (Wissenschaftsnetz),
with access speeds of 64 kilobits per second.
Members pay a fixed fee, regardless of the extent of
usage, to use the network.
The DFN Association has an annual budget of about 30
million deutsche marks and is funded through federal
grants, membership fees, and service charges.#11
According to the director of this association,
expenditures are split between research and
development costs and the network's operating costs.
German Ministry of Research and Technology officials
told us their organization provides the association
with about 15 million deutsche marks per year to
support research in Open Systems Interconnection
technology and new system development.
The DFN Association plans to offer an upgraded speed
of 2 megabits per second on the DFN in the second half
of 1991. However, the Director of the DFN Association
stated that because of the high cost, only 20 to 25
users have expressed interest in a higher speed
networking service; most users probably will continue
______________________________________________________
10 X.25 is an International Standard protocol
that the European Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone,
Administrations have adopted for their public data
networks. This protocol fits the International
Organization for Standardization's Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) layering model. The Internet
Protocol is a vendor-independent and widely available
Department of Defense standard protocol used for the
United States' Internet, but is not directly
compatible with the OSI protocol suite.
11 In June 1991, one dollar equaled about 1.78
deutsche marks.
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to rely on the 64 kilobits per second speed presently
available. The DFN Association is now monitoring the
development and testing of networks with speeds higher
than 2 megabits per second. Information gathered from
this project will provide a basis for deciding whether
Germany should implement a research and education
network operating at speeds greater than 2 megabits
per second. The Director of DFN expects that such a
large-scale national project may be possible in about
2 years.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Italy's National The Italian national network was created in 1989 to
Research Network link several scientific research networks. The
Ministry of Universities, Research, and Technology
created the Gruppo Armonizzazione Reti di Ricerca
(GARR), or Group for the Harmonization of Research
Networks, to manage and supervise the connections of
the various scientific research networks. A senior
adviser to the Minister for Universities, Research,
and Technology explained that, in 1988, the Italian
parliament passed a one-time appropriation of 50
billion lire to establish the GARR network and
purchase two supercomputers.#12 The GARR network
subsequently brought together three other Italian
research and education networks and three computer
centers. To facilitate more effective resource
sharing and increase service, the three networks
agreed to consolidate their funds and eliminate
duplicative administrative costs.
The GARR network currently links more than 280
research laboratories throughout Italy, including
public and university laboratories and industrial
research establishments. A technical executive
committee is responsible for managing the network,
which operates on lines leased from the Italian PTT.
The network provides access speeds of 64 kilobits per
second and 2 megabits per second. The network uses
time-division multiplexing#13 to support four
______________________________________________________
12 In June 1991, one dollar equaled about 1,317
Italian lire.
13 Time-division multiplexing is a digital
transmission technique that allows multiple channels
to share a single line.
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protocols--Internet Protocol, X.25, DECNET, and
Systems Network Architecture.#14
According to a senior adviser to the Minister for
Universities, Research, and Technology, one-time
funding for the GARR network will be exhausted in late
1991, and future funding arrangements needed to
continue network operations are currently being
considered. Italy plans to modify the GARR network in
1991, and again in 1992, to meet the growing needs of
its users by adding more nodes and more links to avoid
bottlenecks and to provide alternate routing
possibilities. The Executive Manager of the GARR
network stated that the network's users currently have
a need for 140 megabits per second lines. However,
there are no plans to provide network transmission
speeds greater than 2 megabits per second, primarily
because of the high cost of telecommunications
services. After 1993, however, GARR network officials
plan to take advantage of expected cost reductions
resulting from the prospective liberalization of the
European telecommunications industry to increase the
network's speed.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Netherlands' The Dutch national research and higher education
National Research network, called SURFnet, was proposed as part of a
Network 1984 government initiative that established the Surf
Foundation to better coordinate Dutch networking and
stimulate information technology.#15 The network was
not actually implemented until 1989, when SURFnet
B.V., a nonprofit limited liability company, was
formed to develop and operate the network. SURFnet
B.V. has two shareholders--the SURF Foundation and the
Dutch PTT.
SURFnet links a total of 85 organizations, including
all Dutch universities, most government and private
research institutions, and the Dutch national
supercomputer site. The network's main
infrastructure consists of an X.25 backbone based on
______________________________________________________
14 DECNET is a set of proprietary protocols of
the Digital Equipment Corporation. Systems Network
Architecture is a set of proprietary protocols of
International Business Machines (IBM).
15 The "SURF" acronym comes from the original
name, "Samenwerkende Universitaire Rekenfaciliteiten,"
or Cooperating University Computing Facilities. SURF
is a Dutch organization roughly equivalent to a
foundation in the United States.
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64 kilobits per second leased lines and equipment. To
meet the needs of its users, SURFnet B.V. also
supports the use of the Internet Protocol over the
X.25 backbone.
SURFnet's organization is somewhat different than that
of the other national research networks that we
reviewed in that its operations are managed by a
commercial entity separate from its policy-making
body. In other words, the primary operator of the
network is SURFnet B.V. However, the SURF Foundation,
comprised primarily of the network's users, has
overall policy-making authority and interacts with the
Dutch Ministry of Education and Science.
SURFnet is operated on a not-for-profit basis. Its
annual operating costs of about 4 million European
Currency Units (ECUs)#16 are covered by service and
transport fees paid by network users, the SURF
Foundation, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
SURFnet has an annual budget of about 1 million ECUs
for research and development, paid by the Ministry of
Economic Affairs.
SURFnet has undertaken a pilot project, called SURFnet
3, which uses 2 megabits per second leased lines to
link the major Dutch universities, the national
aerospace laboratory, and other academic computing
services to the national supercomputer center.
SURFnet's managing director stated that 2 megabits per
second links were chosen as the upper limit for the
pilot project solely on financial grounds, and that
higher speeds would have been used had they been
affordable. After 1992, the SURFnet 3 pilot is
expected to evolve into an operational network
offering both X.25 and Internet Protocols.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The United Kingdom's The United Kingdom's national research network, called
National Research the Joint Academic Network (JANET), was launched in
Network 1984 as a government and industry initiative to more
efficiently use computer resources. JANET
consolidated diverse regional and national networks,
operating at approximately 48 kilobits per second,
among universities and research institutions. JANET
connects public institutions, including universities,
government research labs, and private research
facilities. The network is managed by the Joint
______________________________________________________
16 The ECU is a composite currency unit based on
the currencies of 9 of the 12 European Community
members. In June 1991, an ECU equaled approximately
$1.16.
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Network Team, a centralized group that operates under
the Department of Education and Science's Computer
Board for Universities and Research.
Since 1989, the national network backbone has been
based on the X.25 protocol running over 2 megabits per
second trunk circuits leased from British public
service companies. The Computer Board has promulgated
a policy for the network to use international
standard protocols. Therefore, the Joint Network Team
requires network users to use prescribed protocols to
enhance the network's interworking capabilities.
JANET is funded by a number of governmental
organizations under the Department of Education and
Science. The 1991 budget for JANET's recurring
expenses is 3.9 million pounds sterling.#17 An
additional 4.1 million pounds sterling are budgeted
for capital expenditures over a 2-year period during
1991 and 1992.
In 1989, the United Kingdom began a major performance
enhancement to upgrade JANET's access speed. This
enhancement involves implementing 2 megabits per
second site access lines supported by a trunk network
composed of multiple 2 megabits per second lines.
The long-term strategy is to create a SuperJANET
broadband network employing optical fibers to
complement the introduction of fiber-based local area
networks. This network upgrade is scheduled to be
completed by 1994.
_____________________________________________________________________________
France Planning to Currently, France does not have an integrated national
Implement a research and education network; rather, various
National Network general-purpose and specific disciplinary networks
have been developed to support the needs of French
government agencies and other users. The French
government does plan, however, to begin implementing a
national research and education network by the end of
1991. Toward this goal, three French ministries#18
have established a partnership to build a national
high-speed network that will link the entire French
research and education community, and be available to
______________________________________________________
17 In June 1991, a pound sterling equaled about
$1.66.
18 The three French ministries involved in this
effort are the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications,
and Space; the Ministry of Research and Technology;
and the Ministry of National Education.
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industrial research and development centers. The
intent in establishing this network is to pull
together the fragmented French networks in a more
cost-effective manner.
French officials told us that decisions regarding the
network have not been finalized, although implementing
a network that can be upgraded to speeds of hundreds
of megabits per second will be a primary
consideration. The officials estimated that the
network will offer trunk line transmission speeds
beginning at 2 megabits per second and, soon
thereafter, increasing to 34 megabits per second. In
addition, the new network will accommodate multiple
protocols to meet various users' needs. Funding for
this network will be provided by the three ministries,
regional authorities, and network users.
#####################________________________________________________________
PAN-EUROPEAN NETWORKS Cross-border communications between European countries
MEET THE NEEDS OF are handled by various pan-European networks.
SPECIFIC GROUPS Generally, these networks are geared to the needs of
specific groups and operate at lower speeds of 4.8 to
64 kilobits per second. None of these networks serves
as a general-purpose backbone to interconnect the
existing national networks.
_____________________________________________________________________________
High Energy Physics The High Energy Physics Network (HEPnet) is the
Network largest and fastest pan-European network currently
available. HEPnet connects European high-energy
physics laboratories through the Centre Europeenne
pour la Recherche Nucl aire (CERN) in Geneva. HEPnet
is managed by the HEPnet Technical Committee, which is
composed of representatives from each participating
country.
Although HEPnet's main focus is on meeting the needs
of the high-energy physics community, some of its
lines and funding are shared with other pan-European
networks in order to lease higher-speed trunk lines.
HEPnet's line speeds range from 4.8 kilobits per
second to 2 megabits per second, with most of the
lines operating below 512 kilobits per second. HEPnet
supports the Internet Protocol, IBM's Systems Network
Architecture, X.25, and DECNET protocols by using
time-division multiplexers.
_____________________________________________________________________________
European Academic The European Academic Research Network (EARN) is a
Research Network cooperative network started in 1984 with funding from
IBM. EARN is the European portion of the worldwide
BITnet (Because It's Time Network), which covers North
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America, Europe, and parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle
East, and South America. EARN, along with BITnet,
connects over 2,000 host computers worldwide, offering
mail, mailing list, and file transfer services. Each
European country participating as an EARN member
provides a line to one other European country and also
pays dues to cover network management costs and the
trans-Atlantic link to the United States. Most EARN
links operate at speeds of 9.6 kilobits per second or
less. EARN is based on the IBM Network Job Entry
protocols.
_____________________________________________________________________________
European UNIX The European UNIX Network is a cooperative research
Network and development network for users of the Unix
operating system developed by AT&T Bell Laboratories.
This user-funded network extends throughout western
Europe and is used by both academia and industry. The
network operates primarily on 64 kilobits per second
leased lines using the Internet Protocol. According
to a network official, UNIX line speeds may be
upgraded several times beyond 64 kilobits per second
in the near future, and then to 2 megabits per second
by 1994 if funding is available.
_____________________________________________________________________________
International X.25 The International X.25 Infrastructure (IXI) network is
Infrastructure a 64 kilobits per second, pan-European backbone pilot
Network network, which is being developed as part of the
COSINE (Cooperation of Open Systems Interconnection
Networking in Europe) project.#19 IXI links national
research networks, public networks, and international
networks, such as HEPnet and EARN. IXI service is
implemented by the Netherlands' PTT, under contract
with the Commission of the European Communities, and
is currently paid for entirely by the COSINE project.
However, after the COSINE project is completed in
1992, user charges will be phased in, resulting in a
self-supporting network. The IXI manager hopes to
upgrade line speed to 2 megabits per second in late
1991, when the network's pilot phase is projected to
end and production service begins. The COSINE Policy
______________________________________________________
19 COSINE is a project of EUREKA, an advanced
research program of the European Economic Community
and European Free Trade Association countries to raise
the productivity and competitiveness of Europe in the
fields of advanced technology. COSINE's main
objective is to create a common Open Systems
Interconnection networking infrastructure to serve the
European academic, governmental, and industrial
research communities.
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Group estimates that 23 to 36 million ECUs will be
budgeted for the 3-year COSINE implementation phase,
which extends from 1990 through 1992. The IXI budget
is estimated to be 10 to 15 million ECUs.
_____________________________________________________________________________
European Academic The European Academic Supercomputer Initiative Network
Supercomputer (EASInet) is funded by IBM and links 18 sites
Initiative Network operating IBM supercomputers that were purchased as a
part of this initiative. EASInet also shares many of
its lines with other pan-European networks to support
the development of an improved European networking
infrastructure. EASInet links operate at 64 kilobits
per second or higher when the lines are shared with
other networks such as HEPnet. The network supports
multiple protocols, including X.25, Internet Protocol,
and Systems Network Architecture. IBM is committed to
funding the network through 1992.
#####################________________________________________________________
NEED FOR AN IMPROVED Currently, the major participants in European research
HIGH-SPEED PAN- and education networking, as well as officials of
EUROPEAN RESEARCH national governments and the Commission of the
AND EDUCATION European Communities, agree on the need for a pan-
BACKBONE NETWORK European research and education backbone network.
Some of the participants believe that a high-speed
network similar to the United States' proposed
National Research and Education Network should be
developed in Europe. Network operators and users and
officials of the Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche
Europeenne (RARE), an association of networking
organizations and users in Europe, told us that at a
minimum, a 2 megabits per second pan-European network
capable of supporting multiple protocols is needed as
soon as possible.#20 They stated that such a network
would likely be used to capacity by supporting only
current applications, and that higher speeds will be
needed for newer applications, such as interactive use
of supercomputer-based modeling and visualization
systems or multimedia conferencing. Most of these
officials also believe that any pan-European network
______________________________________________________
20 RARE, which aims to cooperatively develop a
harmonized communications infrastructure, consists of
over 24 national network members and 8 international
members. In addition, the Commission of the European
Communities participates actively in RARE's work in
view of the Commission's special responsibilities
regarding information technology and the research
infrastructure in Europe.
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should quickly progress to speeds of 34 megabits per
second.#21
In discussing the need for a high-speed, pan-European
network, some networking experts believed that the
requirements for a wide-area network, such as the pan-
European network, are driven largely by the
capabilities of local-area networks. Currently, most
local-area networks in Europe operate at speeds
ranging from 10 to 30 megabits per second, with an
increasing number of 100 megabits per second networks
being implemented. As users become accustomed to the
speed and services available on the local-area
networks, they begin to want similar speed and
services from wide-area networks.
Network operators and users also explained that, while
national networks are progressing, a Europe-wide
backbone infrastructure connecting existing national
networks is needed to allow effective collaboration
among European researchers. Without such a network,
the network operators and users believe it will be
impossible to bring together the needed expertise and
resources from across Europe to meet large-scale
technical challenges.
An official of the Commission of the European
Communities stated that a high-speed, state-of-the-
art, pan-European research and education network will
be needed to support their Networks of Excellence
program. This program is intended to bring together
European research efforts in key areas of information
technology. Whereas present research efforts are
often spread among various national facilities and
programs, the Networks of Excellence program creates
the organizational structure to link top-level
European researchers in related interdisciplinary
fields.#22 At the time of our review, three pilot
Networks of Excellence had been established to address
the subject areas of Speech and Natural Language,
Distributed Computing Systems Architecture, and
Computational Logic. Although these Networks of
Excellence rely on access to the national or
______________________________________________________
21 Although the IXI pilot network provides a
backbone service, it operates at only 64 kilobits per
second and may not be able to operate at speeds higher
than 2 megabits per second.
22 The scope of the Networks of Excellence
program does not include providing a
telecommunications network.
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international networks described earlier, a high-
speed, pan-European telecommunications infrastructure
is needed to allow the Networks of Excellence concept
to reach its potential.
Officials of the Commission of the European
Communities also stated that a pan-European research
and education network is needed to help lessen the
economic disparity between northern and southern
Europe. The officials foresee that, without a pan-
European infrastructure, southern European nations
could fall further behind because they lack the
capital to invest in an infrastructure to support
research and education. According to one official, a
pan-European network could give southern European
research and education communities access to the
expertise and resources of northern Europe.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Efforts to Establish Representatives of European networking organizations
a Pan-European and the Commission of the European Communities told
Backbone Network us that recent progress toward implementing a pan-
European network has been good. Moreover, they were
optimistic that organizational and funding problems
will be resolved, resulting in implementation of a
pan-European backbone network in the near future.
Several officials noted that a higher-speed network
could be offered by the mid-1990s.
RARE has been an active proponent of high-speed
networking in Europe. In February 1989 and in January
1991, RARE sponsored networking symposiums to
highlight user needs for high-speed communications.
In May 1989, RARE's Working Group 6, which deals with
medium- and high-speed communications, proposed
initiating a high-speed, pan-European network. While
these efforts did not result in a high-speed, pan-
European backbone network, or even a firm plan for
implementing one, they have resulted in a general
agreement that such a network is needed and that
impending organizational and funding obstacles must be
addressed.
In March 1991, an official of the Dutch government
organized the European Consultative Forum on Research
Networking, which brought together the key players
from the political and networking communities to
discuss development of a high-speed, pan-European
backbone network. Forum participants agreed that
organizational and funding issues must be resolved so
that new high-speed communications services can be
developed.
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In May 1991, the European Engineering Planning Group
(EEPG), composed of network experts organized by RARE,
and chartered to undertake specific activities aimed
at establishing a high-speed, pan-European backbone
network, proposed an organizational structure for
operating such a network and raising funds. EEPG
also proposed alternative technical approaches for
implementing a pan-European backbone network.
Also in May 1991, at the Second Joint European
Networking Conference sponsored by RARE, EEPG's
proposals were presented to an international audience.
Additionally, the president of RARE presented a
description of the political actions, the
organizational structures, the technical tasks, and
other steps needed to implement a high-speed, pan-
European backbone network. Officials representing the
Commission of the European Communities stressed the
need for such a network and their willingness to
assist in its implementation.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Technology European officials stated that much of the technology
Needed for High- needed to improve national networks and create a
Speed Networks Is high-speed, pan-European network already exists. In
Being Developed addition, efforts are under way to develop more
in Europe advanced technology to implement even higher-speed
research and education networks. For example,
Germany's University of Stuttgart Computing Center, a
large supercomputing facility, has conducted high-
speed trials using the Forerunner Broadband Network
service. This service is offered by Germany's PTT to
about 250 users and provides video conferencing and
data transfer at 140 megabits per second. The
Stuttgart Computing Center has successfully operated
long-distance links using 100 megabits per second of
this capacity. An official of the Center told us that
a high-speed, pan-European backbone network is
technically possible by 1992.
Another effort based in Germany is the BERKOM project,
which is intended to stimulate the development of
high-speed communication services, end systems, and
applications. The project is being undertaken by the
German PTT and includes the participation of over 70
organizations, such as equipment suppliers, research
institutes, and commercial users of high-speed
communications. At the time of our review, the
project had resulted in the installation of 30,000
kilometers of fiber-optic cables and switching
equipment near Berlin, yielding a network that
provides access speeds ranging from 64 kilobits per
second to 140 megabits per second. A BERKOM official
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told us that pan-European research and education
networks with operational speeds exceeding 100
megabits per second will soon be technically feasible,
and that speeds approaching a gigabit per second will
be needed in the foreseeable future.
Another initiative to stimulate development of
communication technology is the Research and
Development in Advanced Communications Technologies in
Europe (RACE) program, sponsored by the Commission of
the European Communities. This program is meant to
facilitate the introduction of commercial Integrated
Broadband Communication (IBC) services in Europe by
1995 by funding research in pre-competitive
technology.#23 IBC services being developed could be
used to support a pan-European research and education
network, as well as meet the needs of industrial
users. RACE, which is now entering its second phase,
has 85 ongoing projects involving 300 participating
organizations and 2,000 people. Funding for phases I
and II is provided by the Commission of the European
Communities and RACE participants. Phase I was
budgeted at 1.1 billion ECUs for 1987 through 1991.
Phase II, which partially overlaps phase I, is
scheduled to run from 1990 through 1994, and is
budgeted at 1 billion ECUs.
#####################________________________________________________________
ORGANIZATION AND Although much of the technology required to create a
FUNDING ISSUES MUST pan-European research and education backbone network
BE RESOLVED TO is thought to be available, European officials told
IMPLEMENT A PAN- us that Europe faces significant issues in managing
EUROPEAN BACKBONE and funding such a network. European officials were
NETWORK generally optimistic that these issues will be
resolved, and that a high-speed, pan-European backbone
network will be implemented.
Many organizations in Europe actively support computer
networking for European research and education
communities. However, none has the charter to provide
a pan-European backbone infrastructure to link
national networks supporting multiple disciplines and
______________________________________________________
23 Integrated Broadband Communication is the use
of wide-area, high-capacity networks to simultaneously
provide a variety of communication services such as
voice, data transmission, and image transfer. RACE
officials told us that these types of services should
be generally available by the mid-1990s and would be
very useful to research and education networks, even
though development of such networks is not an explicit
objective of the RACE program.
Page 30 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix II
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Europe
_____________________________________________________________________________
needs. The lack of central leadership has led to
unsatisfactory cross-border networking services in
Europe. In May 1991, a group of networking experts
reported that while Europe does not lack the
technology, skills, and competence to implement a
high-speed, pan-European network, a cohesive, central
organizational force and a supportive regulatory
environment are missing.#24 An official of the
Commission of the European Communities told us that
progress has been slow because consensus among the
large number of countries and organizations involved
is not easily achieved. Organizing the development of
a pan-European network could potentially include the
12 European Community countries, 6 European Free Trade
Area countries, and Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia.
Most of the officials also told us that it is
difficult and expensive to obtain cross-border
telecommunications services because there is no pan-
European service provider. Rather, service is
provided by national PTTs, which generally operate as
regulated monopolies within their respective
countries. Therefore, instead of working with a
single provider, network operators must coordinate
with multiple PTTs to obtain a line from one country
to another. For example, if a network operator wants
to obtain a link between the Netherlands and France,
it must coordinate with officials of the intervening
nation--in this case, the Belgian PTT--as well as with
the PTTs of France and the Netherlands. Network
operators told us that obtaining cross-border lines is
time-consuming and expensive. While
telecommunications costs are different in each
country, many European tariffs are reported to be 10
times higher than in the United States. The PTTs have
implemented some changes to simplify matters; however,
network operators stated that the situation is still
far from satisfactory.
Pan-European networking is further complicated by the
use of different telecommunications protocols among
users and networks. Some European countries, as well
as the Commission of the European Communities,
actively encourage the use of protocols that comply
with the Open Systems Interconnection model, such as
X.25, to avoid reliance on vendor-specific network
solutions. However, for various reasons, many
researchers often use other protocols that do not
comply with the model.
______________________________________________________
24 European Engineering Planning Group, Final
Report, (May 2, 1991).
Page 31 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix III
_____________________________________________________________________________
HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER NETWORKS SUPPORTING
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN JAPAN
_____________________________________________________________________________
In Japan, government-funded and private networks
provide support for the major research and academic
institutions. However, some Japanese officials
believe that Japan's networks, overall, are less
advanced than networks in the United States. Japanese
officials told us that high-speed networks are an
integral part of ongoing plans and initiatives to
further the nation's telecommunications capability.
For example, plans are being formulated to develop a
fiber-optic digital network capable of transmitting
digitized voice, data, and video traffic, and
providing a standard way to share information at high
speeds. However, some Japanese officials believe that
successful expansion of Japan's computer network
infrastructure may depend on whether adequate funding
and government coordination exists to support these
plans and initiatives.
#####################________________________________________________________
JAPANESE RESEARCH AND Japanese research and education networks provide
EDUCATION NETWORKS nationwide connectivity to academic researchers at
PROVIDE RELATIVELY universities throughout Japan, and to other
LOW-SPEED CAPABILITY specialized groups of users, such as those serving
the high-energy physics community. Most of these
networks transmit data at relatively low speeds of 192
kilobits per second or less. Only one of the networks
that we observed provided high-speed data transmission
at a speed of 1.5 megabits per second. According to
some Japanese officials, high-speed research and
education networks in Japan may not be as widespread
or advanced as United States networks because Japanese
researchers tend to be located closer together and
concentrated in fewer organizations.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Science Information The Science Information Network is the only high-speed
Network network that we identified in Japan.#25 The network
______________________________________________________
25 Although the Science Information Network was
the only high-speed network that we identified,
Japanese officials told us that high-speed links have
been created by some private companies, such as Honda
Motor Co., Ltd. We also were informed that an
extensive local-area network connecting nine
government laboratories and a supercomputer center
over high-speed links exists in Tsukuba Science City.
Page 32 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
was created in 1987 by the National Center for Science
Information System (NACSIS), an inter-university
research institute authorized by the Japan National
University Chartering Law. NACSIS created the network
to promote the exchange of scientific information
among researchers, primarily at universities, national
research institutes, and major libraries throughout
Japan. The Science Information Network expanded the
services of one of Japan's earliest computer networks,
the N-1 Network, which began operation in 1981 to
facilitate the sharing of computer resources. The
Science Information Network is funded by the
government, receiving approximately 400 million yen
annually for circuits and an unspecified amount for
maintenance fees from the Ministry of Education,
Science, and Culture.#26
According to NACSIS officials, the Science Information
Network has a 1.5 megabits per second (T1) backbone,
with trunk lines connecting to 40 nodes at speeds
ranging from 64 to 512 kilobits per second. The
network supports various protocols, including X.25,
the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP), and certain proprietary protocols.
The Science Information Network provides services of
the N-1 network and also is used for library
information exchange, electronic mail, and
experimental projects. The network directly links 135
universities, and provides packet-switching or dial-up
connections to an unspecified number of other
universities. Among the members of this network are
the seven inter-university computing centers
throughout the main Japanese islands. Since 1989, the
Science Information Network also has provided its
users with international connections to the National
Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., and since
1990, to the British Library in London. In addition,
NACSIS encourages interconnections among local-area
networks on university campuses in order to promote
greater use of computers by a wider range of
researchers for more advanced applications.
NACSIS officials told us that they want to upgrade the
network to provide minimum trunk line speeds of 192
kilobits per second for all major locations, and to
offer new services, such as video conferencing.
Accomplishing these goals, however, will depend on
whether funding required to install new circuits can
______________________________________________________
26 In June 1991, one dollar equaled
approximately 137.55 yen.
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Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
be obtained from the Ministry of Education, Science,
and Culture.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Widely Integrated The Widely Integrated Distributed Environment (WIDE)
Distributed Internet project was initiated in July 1987 by a
Environment Internet professor at the University of Tokyo. The project
was designed to provide a testbed for the development
of large-scale distributed systems technologies, and
was initially constructed by interconnecting several
local-area networks. The network has since provided a
basis for Japanese computer science researchers to
gain practical experience in advanced networking. The
WIDE project also sponsors a consortium to study
various computer issues including computer security
and protocols and home computing. The WIDE project
operates as a nongovernment network with funding
support from about 25 private companies. According to
a WIDE project representative, the operating budget
for this network totals about 82.5 million yen
annually.
The WIDE Internet is composed of a variety of links,
including dial-up voice grade lines, voice grade
leased lines, 64 kilobits per second and 192 kilobits
per second digital leased lines, a 64 kilobits per
second link to the Science Information Network of
NACSIS, and an integrated services digital network.
Currently, 43 user organizations, including
universities and private companies, are connected to
five operation centers through lines operating at 9.6
to 192 kilobits per second. The WIDE project
provides connectivity to other networks, such as the
University of Tokyo International Science Network, and
supports TCP/IP as the basic protocol.
WIDE operates in conjunction with the Pacific Area
Computer Communication (PACCOM) project to provide
international links for Japanese researchers. PACCOM
began as a testbed project by the University of Hawaii
in June 1988. PACCOM provides international
connections for some users in Japan to the United
States and several other countries by means of links
between two Japanese universities and PACCOM's
operation center at the University of Hawaii.
Connections between Japan and Hawaii are provided by
five 64 kilobits per second lines.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Japanese University The Japanese University Network (JUNET) is an academic
Network network offering electronic mail and electronic news
services. JUNET was begun in 1984 by university
students to provide a testing environment for computer
Page 34 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
network research, and promote information exchange
among Japanese and other researchers. JUNET is the
largest nationwide, noncommercial computer network in
Japan. As of March 1991, the network connected
approximately 450 universities and private companies
throughout Japan. Two primary international gateways
also provide connections to Europe, the United States,
Australia, and Korea. JUNET is not a high-speed
network; many of its links are 9.6 kilobits per
second. The WIDE internet serves as a backbone link
for JUNET, using the X.25 protocol and leased lines
to process traffic.
JUNET is operated on a volunteer basis. Within Japan,
each user organization is requested to fund and manage
links between its neighboring organizations. In
addition, users are charged according to the service
they use on international links, which are expensive
to support.
_____________________________________________________________________________
High Energy Physics The High Energy Physics Network-Japan (HEPNET-Japan)
Network-Japan is the Japanese portion of the international high-
energy physics network. It was established in 1982 to
enable researchers to access computing power at the
National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (KEK),
which also operates the network.#27
Presently, HEPNET-Japan connects researchers at more
than 35 universities and other research facilities
throughout Japan. The network uses leased lines and
private network services operating at 9.6 to 64
kilobits per second, and supports the TCP/IP and
DECnet protocols. The network also provides
international connectivity to the Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratories in California by a 56 kilobits per second
line. HEPNET-Japan provides various services,
including remote interactive computer access, data
transfer, and electronic mail, and supports other
uses, such as complex distributed computing
applications.
KEK officials stated that they plan to upgrade HEPNET-
Japan, and have requested funds to begin improving the
speed of the network. As planned, the network will
operate six hub sites serving users in the surrounding
areas, and connect to KEK by means of 512 kilobits per
______________________________________________________
27 KEK is a national laboratory for high-energy
physics research, which is funded by the Ministry of
Education, Science, and Culture. The laboratory is
located in Tsukuba Science City, near Tokyo.
Page 35 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
second or higher-speed dedicated leased lines.
Funding for the upgrade, which is estimated to cost
about 100 million yen annually for leased lines, is
being requested in 1991 from the Ministry of
Education, Science, and Culture. Additional upgrades
to increase the speed of the HEPNET-Japan backbone to
1.5 megabits per second (or higher speed) lines also
are planned, but funds have not yet been requested.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Japan Information The Japan Information Center of Science and Technology
Center of Science (JICST) network provides users throughout Japan with
and Technology access to a multitude of bibliographic and factual
Network data bases to encourage scientific and technical
research. Presently, JICST offers access to over 90
million citations on approximately 118 data bases,
including data bases that exist outside of Japan. The
network is operated by JICST, a quasi-governmental
organization, which is financed by income from the
Science and Technology Agency of the Japanese
government and from service fees. About half of
JICST's annual budget comes from the Agency and half
comes from service fees.
Over three-quarters of the JICST network users are
private companies; about one-fourth of the users are
universities, the Japanese government, or other
agencies. These users gain access to JICST's data
bases on lines operating at between 300 and 2,400
bits per second, and connecting to 10 JICST branch
offices located throughout Japan. The branch offices
also have connections to the online data bases over
lines operating at 14.4 to 64 kilobits per second.
JICST officials estimated that network use has almost
doubled over the past 5 years, with users currently
making more than 100,000 inquiries into the data bases
each month. JICST officials want to provide upgraded
capability to improve online data base service and the
transfer of large data files.
#####################________________________________________________________
PLANS FOR FUTURE According to some officials, high-speed networks are
NETWORKS IN JAPAN recognized in Japan as being important and valuable,
and efforts to enhance the speed and capability of the
existing computer networking infrastructure are
actively encouraged. The officials stated that
Japanese ministries, as well as private sponsors, have
proposed projects or initiated studies aimed at
expanding Japan's networking capability to support
research and education.
Page 36 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Plans to Build a One of Japan's most significant initiatives is a plan
Fiber-Optic to develop a fiber-optic digital network that will
Digital Network provide service to all businesses and virtually all
homes in Japan by the year 2015. This fiber-to-the-
home project will support a broadband Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN) that Japan's largest
telephone company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation (NTT), plans to build at an estimated cost
of 34 to 40 trillion yen (approximately $250 billion)
over 25 years. NTT receives guidance and supervision
from Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications,
which is responsible for regulating the
telecommunications industry.
As part of the project, fiber-optic cable will be used
to transmit digitized voice, data, and video traffic
through a single line. NTT's goal is to provide
services such as portable "pocket phones,"
communication of characters and images ("textmail")
between any computer on any computer network, and a
"visual phone" with picture quality comparable to that
of television. NTT also envisions other advanced
services such as 3-D video communications and
automatic translation communications.
According to an NTT representative, certain factors
may affect the timing and extent of the project's
development. For example, NTT plans to fund the
fiber-to-the-home project with corporate investment
funds generated from operating revenues, rather than
from direct Japanese government general funds. In the
future, NTT also could receive some tax incentives.
However, according to NTT's 1990 Annual Report, a
large part of the corporation's stock is government-
owned. Upon incorporation on April 1, 1985, all the
assets and liabilities of NTT's predecessor, the
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Public Corporation, were
transferred to the Japanese government. Since that
time, the Japanese government has sold about one-third
of these shares to the public. Eventually, the
Japanese government could reduce its share of the
remaining stock ownership by another one-third, in
accordance with the relevant Japanese law.
Moreover, if the fiber-optic cable is to be funded out
of NTT's operating revenues, the plan may proceed only
to the extent that consumers will pay for the
services. However, according to the NTT
representative, possibly the least developed part of
the project plan is the extent to which actual
customer needs have been defined. In addition, at
least one important regulatory issue needs to be
clarified before NTT will implement its fiber-to-the-
Page 37 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
home plan. The NTT representative explained that a
current law may prohibit NTT from obtaining a license
to provide home cable television services. If this is
determined to be the case, the law will have to be
changed, or NTT will have to reevaluate further
investment in the network.
A possible reorganization of the telephone industry in
Japan also may affect NTT's plan. A Japanese
government report in 1990 proposed dividing up NTT
into smaller organizations, but no action was taken at
that time. However, this issue may be reevaluated in
1995. The impact of this regulatory decision on NTT's
plans is uncertain.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Initiatives Being At the time of our review, representatives of the
Studied to Enhance Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)
Japan's Network told us that they were studying initiatives that
Capabilities could result in expanding the capability of Japanese
research and education networks. These initiatives
are intended to strengthen the infrastructure for
research, expand knowledge in computer technology, and
further international scientific cooperation.
As one initiative, MITI is considering whether to
provide further funding to improve networks linking
Japan's supercomputer centers. MITI officials
explained that although the number of supercomputers
is increasing in Japan, the linkages between
supercomputer centers is limited. Moreover,
researchers' access to these centers depends on how
the centers are funded. MITI officials stated that
currently, supercomputer centers are either (1) funded
by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture and
are limited to users at major universities, (2) funded
by MITI for use by researchers at various national
laboratories, or (3) privately funded for commercial
business purposes. Under the initiative that MITI is
considering, researchers would be allowed to access
supercomputer centers regardless of the source of
their funding. Although MITI recognizes that there is
a need for faster networks, the officials knew of no
Japanese government initiative to study computer
networks faster than 1.5 megabits per second.
MITI officials told us that government funding has not
yet been approved for this initiative. MITI
representatives estimated that if approved, the first-
year budget for this initiative will be about 600
million yen, which may include contributions from
Japanese companies. MITI plans to have more
discussions and request comments from interested
parties on this matter.
Page 38 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
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Appendix III
High-Speed Computer Networks Supporting
Research and Education in Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________
#####################________________________________________________________
ISSUES AFFECTING Representatives of various Japanese organizations told
JAPAN'S FUTURE us that further development of computer networks to
DEVELOPMENT OF support research and education activities depends on
COMPUTER NETWORKS how Japan responds to issues concerning its budget
environment, coordination among Japanese government
ministries, and a shrinking labor force.
Operators of existing networks and representatives of
Japanese ministries told us that expanding the number
and capability of research and education computer
networks will require successfully competing with
other high-priority programs for government funds.
According to a United States Embassy official in
Tokyo, some Japanese officials perceive that higher
education, including academic research, has not been a
top priority, and therefore, is not well-funded by the
government. Moreover, planning, building, and
operating future networks may require funding and
support from several government ministries, such as
MITI and the Ministry of Education, Science, and
Culture, rather than from only one organization, as
was previously done. This would require, in the
opinion of various ministry representatives, more
government coordination than now exists.
Another issue which may affect increased networking,
and in particular the broadband ISDN project, is a
forecasted shortage of workers to install the fiber-
optic cables and other telecommunications equipment.
According to United States Embassy officials in Tokyo,
a declining birth rate trend threatens to shrink
Japan's population, and consequently, the size of its
labor force. An NTT representative added that finding
sufficient numbers of workers also is difficult
because many of the younger Japanese workers consider
certain construction work, such as installing fiber-
optic cables, to be dirty, difficult, and generally
undesirable.
Page 39 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix IV
_____________________________________________________________________________
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY
_____________________________________________________________________________
At the request of the Senate Subcommittee on Science,
Technology, and Space; Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation; House Subcommittee on
Technology and Competitiveness; and House Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, we studied the
development of high-speed computer networks in the
United States, Europe, and Japan. Because high-
speed computer networks used for research and
education are of primary interest in the United
States, we specifically focused on networks that are
used to facilitate these types of applications.
In conducting our review, we interviewed officials of
various United States government agencies, including
the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, and the Department of Commerce.
In addition, we met with representatives of other
organizations and agencies, such as the Corporation
for National Research Initiatives, the Federal
Networking Council, and EDUCOM, a nonprofit consortium
of higher education institutions which facilitates the
use and management of information resources in
teaching, learning, and research.
To determine which European and Japanese networks to
include in our review, we obtained and analyzed
various documents describing each nation's network
infrastructures, policies, and initiatives. We
attended networking symposiums held in the United
States and Europe during the time of our review; and
consulted with numerous government and academic
officials who were considered experts on European and
Japanese computer and communication technologies, and
officials of the United States Mission to the European
Community and the United States Embassy in Tokyo.
On the basis of information obtained from these
sources, we limited our review to those networks
identified as providing high-speed communication
capabilities, or if low-speed, as being important to
European and Japanese research and education.
Although high-speed is not formally or universally
defined, various officials and symposium participants
considered high-speed networks to be capable of
operating at T1 speeds of 1.544 megabits per second in
the United States and Japan, or E1 speeds of 2.048
megabits per second in Europe. We excluded from our
review networks that were operated on a private, for-
Page 40 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix IV
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
_____________________________________________________________________________
profit basis. In addition, because of the size of the
European Community, we limited our review to national
research and education networks in five countries--
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the
United Kingdom--and five principal pan-European
networks.
In the European countries and Japan, we interviewed
government personnel, representatives of organizations
responsible for research and development, members of
the academic community, managers of key projects for
enhancing the network infrastructure, and
telecommunications industry officials. From these
sources, we obtained information describing the
present networking infrastructures, plans to upgrade
or develop future infrastructures, and to the extent
possible, the resources being applied to these
efforts. We also obtained information regarding the
challenges or concerns that Europe and Japan believe
must be addressed before future plans can be fully
realized.
To confirm our understanding of network development,
we discussed the information in this report with
various government officials and representatives of
network organizations in the United States, Europe,
and Japan, and have incorporated their views as
appropriate. However, we did not independently verify
the validity or accuracy of the information provided.
Our work was conducted from October 1990 to June 1991,
primarily in Washington, D.C., and the European and
Japanese locations listed in appendixes V and VI,
respectively.
Page 41 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix V
_____________________________________________________________________________
ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES CONTACTED REGARDING
EUROPEAN NETWORKS
#####################________________________________________________________
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
_____________________________________________________________________________
France Government Organizations
Ministry of Research and Technology
National Center for Scientific Research
Network Operators and Users
National Aerospace Research Center
National Research Institute for Computer
Science and Automation
Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone Administration
France Telecom
_____________________________________________________________________________
Germany Government Organization
Ministry for Research and Technology
Network Operators and Users
Deutsche Forschungsnetz (National Research Network
Center)
The German National Research Center for Computer
Science
Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone Administration
Deutsche Bundespost
_____________________________________________________________________________
Italy Government Organization
Ministry of Universities and Scientific Research
Network Operators and Users
Group for the Harmonization of Research Networks
National Institute of Nuclear Physics
Postal Telephone and Telegraph Administration
ItalCable (Italian International Telephone Agency)
Italian Public Agency for Telephones
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Netherlands Government Organizations
Ministry of Education
Network Operators and Users
SURFnet B.V.
Page 42 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
Appendix V
Organizations and Entities Contacted
Regarding European Networks
_____________________________________________________________________________
#####################________________________________________________________
PAN-EUROPEAN Government Organizations
REPRESENTATIVES Commission of the European Communities,
Directorate-General for Telecommunications
European Strategic Program for Research and
Development in Information Technology (Esprit)
Research and Development in Advanced Communications
Technologies in Europe (RACE) Program
Networking Organizations
Association of Internet Protocol Users in Europe
(RIPE)
Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne
(RARE)
Network Operators
European Academic Research Network
European UNIX Network
International X.25 Infrastructure Network
Page 43 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix VI
_____________________________________________________________________________
ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES CONTACTED REGARDING
JAPANESE NETWORKS
_____________________________________________________________________________
Japanese Ministries
and Government
Organizations
Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
National Institute of Science and Technology
Policy
_____________________________________________________________________________
Japanese Network Electrotechnical Laboratory
Operators and Users Japan Information Center of Science and Technology
National Center for Science Information System
National Laboratory for High Energy Physics
Research Information Processing System
University of Tokyo Computer Center
Widely Integrated Distributed Environment Internet
_____________________________________________________________________________
Japanese Industry Institute for New Generation Computer Technology
and Other Kawasaki Steel Systems R&D Corporation
Organizations NEC Corporation
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Sony Corporation
_____________________________________________________________________________
United States Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research
Government Asian Office (Tokyo)
United States Embassy, Tokyo
_____________________________________________________________________________
United States American Chamber of Commerce (High Technology
Industry and Other Committee), Japan
Organizations International Business Machines (IBM) World Trade Asia
Corporation, IBM Asia Pacific
Pacific Area Computer Communication Testbed
(University of Hawaii)
Page 44 GAO/IMTEC-91-69 High-Speed Networks
Appendix VII
_____________________________________________________________________________
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
#####################________________________________________________________
INFORMATION Linda D. Koontz, Assistant Director
MANAGEMENT AND Valerie C. Melvin, Senior Evaluator-in-Charge
TECHNOLOGY DIVISION, Yvette Ramos, Computer Scientist
WASHINGTON, D.C.
#####################________________________________________________________
LOS ANGELES REGIONAL Allan Roberts, Assistant Director
OFFICE Ambrose A. McGraw, Senior Evaluator
#####################________________________________________________________
EUROPEAN OFFICE Danny R. Burton, Assignment Manager
Paul D. Alcocer, Senior Evaluator
Kirk R. Boyer, Evaluator
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