TMCnet News
Global Crossing Inks Private Line Services Contract with Naval Research Laboratory TMCnet Contributing Editor Global Crossing announced on Thursday that it inked a new deal with the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) which asks for the IP  service provider to offer the agency private line services over the next five years. The contract is reportedly valued in $10 million, if all options are exercised.The new services will be used to connect U.S. Forces in a cross-Pacific link. According to Global Crossing, this is its first major contract it inks, following the company's recent U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule award. Global Crossing’s private line services will link two of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Large Data Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) sites. The “transoceanic” link will use advanced InfiniBand-based data transport protocol. InfiniBand, which a switched fabric communications link primarily used in high-performance computing environments, would provide the DoD with near real-time connectivity. “This contract with the NRL under the GSA 70 Schedule is significant because it helps Global Crossing to build our credentials as a prime contractor to the U.S. Government as we expand our business and product offerings to the federal marketplace,” said Global Crossing’s chief executive officer John Legere in a statement. “Global Crossing is supplying an OC-48 (STM-16) link that will connect Naval Research Laboratories in Washington D.C. and a location in the Pacific Command, enabling the Department of Defense to exchange high-bandwidth information between the two sites quickly and efficiently.” Under the contract, Global Crossing will also supply NRL with enhanced data transmission services including IP-centric services such as IP VPN , Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and Private Line, as well as collaboration services.The news comes on the heels of Global Crossing’s announcement earlier this month about being tapped by digital content delivery provider SyncCast to supply IP Transit services. SyncCast will use Global Crossing’s services to deliver music, movie, and gaming downloads to its end-users. As part of the project, Global Crossing turned up four 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) ports to provide SyncCast with a high-bandwidth ramp onto Global Crossing's network via connections at SyncCast’s Anaheim and New York City Content Delivery Network (CDN) locales.Be sure to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. -------- Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page. |