for educ use. Japanese Global Gigabit Network

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

  TOKYO, JAPAN, 1994 MAR 8 (NB) -- The Japanese Posts &
Telecommunication Ministry says it will start an experiment  involving high-
speed multimedia data transmission in  cooperation with private firms. It is
called the Global Giga  Network and will be completed by March 1995.


  The Global Giga Network project aims to support a data transmission rate
of 10 gigabits per second. The network project will use supercomputers, ATM
(asynchronous transfer mode) switching devices, and various databases.


  It will be used in a variety of fields, such as  videoconferencing, remote
medical diagnosis, and  the exchanging of data on environmental pollution.


  To begin with, the network will be connected between  computers of the
Posts & Telecommunication Ministry, NTT,  KDD, and NHK (Japan Broadcasting
Cooperation) via NTT's  fiber optics. The Ministry, NTT, and KDD have a
research  institute for telecommunications. NHK also has a  research
institute for broadcasting.


  The Ministry intends to request the participation of research
laboratories, universities and private firms in Japan and abroad.  It is
expected that Japanese computer makers, including NEC, Fujitsu and IBM
Japan, will also participate in the project.