Pennsylvania Research and Education Network to get millions to improve web access

In February, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and 12 partners secured $99.6 million in federal stimulus funds to complete the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network project, designed to help build a broadband network through the state's most rural areas.

The PennREN team proposed a broadband network headquartered at 13 anchor facilities and about 50 satellite sites, which would together provide a radius of connectivity through 39 Pennsylvania counties. Even with 1,700 miles of fiber, the project won't boot up the entire state, leaving northern and southern portions to other stimulus projects or later development. If you connect the dots of the anchor institutions or "nodes," a crooked bow-tie shape forms. At one point, the "Bow Tie Network" name was proposed but scrapped. Think of each node as having a radius of connectivity to local institutions, schools and businesses. The radius can extend even further if contractors wish to extend the network that "last mile," to the residential home or individual business.