Ray, How about some Dark Fiber and Gigabit Ethernet in the Last Mile?
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Packet Engines and WWP Fiber Awarded Multi-million Dollar Contract for World's First Gigabit Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network
SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 1998--
Building an Educational Network for the Future: EMAN Positioned
to Deliver Leading Edge Multimedia Services to Every Classroom in
Greater Spokane Area as New Millennium Approaches
Packet Engines, Inc., a worldwide leader in gigabit networking solutions, and WWP Fiber, a subsidiary of Washington Water Power (NYSE:WWP), today announced they have been awarded a contract worth up to $14 million to provide equipment for the Educational Metropolitan Area Network (EMAN).
The EMAN network is designed to connect Spokane area K-12 school districts, community colleges and universities.
The EMAN Gigabit Ethernet network will support voice, video and data communications of each participating organization, potentially linking 120 educational sites over the next two years.
Implementation of the EMAN network will be completed in multiple phases. In August of this year, District 81, the largest school District in Spokane, will be the first educational agency in Spokane to begin deployment, providing students and teachers access to the EMAN network.
"It is very exciting to be a part of the EMAN project, bringing together leading technology organizations like Packet Engines and WWP Fiber, and educational organizations across the region for the benefit of the entire area," said Superintendent Gary A. Livingston, of Spokane School District 81 and a member of the EMAN consortium. "The community deserves a lot of credit for making this happen. Because of the support we received for our recent bond election, this project is now a reality."
With EMAN, all Spokane students and teachers at participating school districts will be able to access educational resources, interact with other students and teachers, and enjoy the benefits of high-speed network connectivity. The technology provided by Packet Engines and WWP Fiber will serve as the foundation of this first-of-its-kind Gigabit Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network. The combination of Gigabit Ethernet and fiber provides a highly reliable and scalable network solution allowing EMAN to meet current and future bandwidth demands without having to replace equipment, even as usage increases over the next 10 years.
"EMAN will enable students, teachers and parents alike to access a wealth of information and bring a new level of advanced teaching methods to our school systems," continued Livingston. "EMAN will provide the Spokane area with a highly qualified pool of future employees, attracting top companies and creating a thriving business climate as companies come seeking talented workers along with the better quality of life the Spokane area has to offer."
The EMAN project was motivated by a collective need to upgrade existing networks to increase bandwidth and expand capabilities while simultaneously reducing long-term recurring costs. Integrating voice, video and data communications over a leased fiber infrastructure was a natural evolution. During the past year, the EMAN project team has worked together to define requirements, develop a network configuration and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for vendors to provide dark fiber service and high performance networking equipment.
"We received responses to the RFP from leading networking equipment vendors. They offered solutions ranging from ATM to Gigabit Ethernet for the backbone of the EMAN network. After an extensive evaluation, it became clear that Packet Engines with Gigabit Ethernet was the right choice for a scalable and reliable high-performance networking solution that was the easiest to manage," said Dick Hol, director of information systems for the Community Colleges of Spokane. "And, WWP's dark fiber service offering made practical and economical sense, providing us essentially unlimited
access, yet only incurring costs for what we actually use."
"The EMAN project is the first major application of extended-distance Gigabit Ethernet technology into a Metropolitan Area Network. EMAN's choice of Packet Engines' gigabit products for this network validates the usefulness and applicability of Gigabit Ethernet technology into a wire-speed routed, metropolitan network environment," said Steve Bell, president & CEO of The Silicon Valley Networking Lab, Palo Alto, CA (www.svnl.com). "Gigabit Ethernet is a compelling choice for EMAN. I expect that this QoS-enabled, voice-capable network architecture will turn the heads of
network planners all over the world, and perhaps cause a few ATM vendors to lie awake at night."
Packet Engines' PowerRail(TM) enterprise routing switches will provide the networking infrastructure for the EMAN network. "We are delighted to have been selected for the EMAN network as a leading technology provider, and very pleased to be working closely with WWP Fiber on this exciting project," said Bernard Daines, president and CEO of Packet Engines. "The EMAN project is the first application of its kind to use Gigabit Ethernet technology in a metropolitan environment, but we expect networks of this type to become quite common over the next few years."
WWP Fiber is providing the EMAN project team with a reliable, fiber-optic cable infrastructure enabling voice, video and data to travel at the speed of light and providing transparent end-to-end connectivity. "The EMAN project is a great example of how public organizations can offer a broad variety of services to users in the community," said Warren Miller, general manager of WWP Fiber.
"With our dark fiber connecting the EMAN network, users will be able to access educational information and rely on network connectivity regardless of location. The investment the community makes today will be returned down the road in the form of enlightened students and future employees."
The EMAN network, designed by TMC Group, L.L.C., an independent consulting firm commissioned by the EMAN consortium, will interconnect each participating educational agency via the dark fiber service and enable educational organizations to utilize and universally share resources that are more up to date and maintained in real-time.
"Students and teachers of participating organizations will have access to shared library materials and will have the ability to view lessons or demonstrations via networked video," said Ed Jacobs, registered communications distribution designer for TMC Group. "The network can also save time and money in transporting documents or videotapes between schools -- rather than being sent via mail or cars, files can be quickly and easily sent over the network."
About Packet Engines
Packet Engines, Inc. was founded by Bernard Daines in 1994 to develop networking solutions delivering gigabit performance and enterprise reliability. The company, a founding member of the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, is now providing high-performance gigabit networking solutions directly and via a variety of industry partners. Packet Engines' products include high-performance routing switches, hubs, network interface cards and intellectual property licenses. Visit packetengines.com for additional information.
About TMC Group
TMC Group, L.L.C. is an independent consulting firm that specializes in the evaluation of organizational telecommunications needs, telecommunications concept design, and the selection, implementation and management of voice, video and data systems. TMC also provides conceptual design, planning and implementation management of local and wide area networks, and copper and fiber optic cabling projects. The company offers educational seminars, specialized trouble shooting skills, and telecommunications management outsourcing.
About WWP Fiber
WWP Fiber is headquartered in Spokane, Washington and is a subsidiary of Avista Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Washington Water Power (NYSE:WWP). WWP Fiber has installed more than 4,600 strand miles of high-capacity fiber optic cable for businesses and schools. Launched in early 1997, WWP Fiber is quickly moving into a position of regional expansion and views the EMAN project as a cornerstone to future state, educational, and private consortium fiber optic projects. WWP Fiber provides a variety of services including dark fiber leases; lit fiber services; cable design, management, and installation; network analysis and design. For more information visit the company's website at wwpfiber.com
About Washington Water Power
Washington Water Power, with consolidated annual revenues of $1.3 billion, is an energy services company with utility and subsidiary operations located throughout the United States. Washington Water Power also operates Avista Corp., which owns all of the company's non-regulated energy and non-energy businesses. Avista companies include WWP Fiber, Pentzer Corporation, Avista Energy, Avista Advantage and Avista Labs. Washington Water Powers Internet address is wwpco.com.
Washington Water Power is traded under the ticker symbol "WWP."
PowerRail, Packet Engines and the Packet Engines logo are trademarks of Packet Engines Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. --30--SL/se*
CONTACT: Packet Engines
Press and Industry Analysts:
Vivian Kelly, 703/860-0707
vivian_kelly@interprosepr.com
OR
Local Press:
Nancy Goodspeed, 509/777-7241
nancyg@packetengines.com
OR
Washington Water Power/WWP Fiber
Steve Becker, 509/482-4264
sbecker@wwpco.com
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