CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California), the organisation that provides global connectivity for education and research institutions in California, announced an agreement to extend its fibre leases, called indefeasible rights of use (IRUs), with Level 3 Communications on more than 8,000 miles of dark fibre until 2040.
Through the collaboration, Level 3 provides CENIC with access to its extensive fibre network to serve the organisation's 11,000-member institutions, including universities, schools, libraries and other cultural, scientific and arts organisations across California.
Regarding the renewed lease agreement, Louis Fox, president and CEO of CENIC, noted, "CENIC's next generation terabit network, CENIC 2.0, will have even greater user control and visibility, automation and software capacities for security, computation, and storage".
- In December 2016, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Division (UC ANR) and CENIC announced they had connected key UC ANR facilities to CENIC's 100 Gbit/s research and education network, extending ultra-broadband capacity to UC researchers in rural sites across California.
- UC ANR operates nine Research and Extension Centers (RECS), plus 57 local UC Cooperative Extension offices, in locations ranging from the Oregon border in the north, through the Sierra foothills and Central Valley, along the Pacific Coast and south to the Mexican border.
- CENIC is a non-profit organisation that operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN) high-capacity network that connects over 20 million users, including most K-20 students, with educators, researchers and other public institutions. It also provides connectivity to leading institutions and industry research organisations worldwide.
