Statewide Fiber Networks Interconnect, Enhancing Ethernet Offerings

Iowa Network Services (INS) and Indiana Fiber Network (IFN), two statewide fiber networks run by independent telecommunication company consortiums, have interconnected their networks via an Ethernet network-to-network interface at a Chicago point of presence operated by INDATEL, a nationwide consortium of state and regional fiber networks.

The move illustrates new opportunities for rural telecom carriers and the statewide and regional fiber network operators -- such as INS and IFN -- to which they are connected. IFN now will be able to provision a business or carrier customer’s service from an endpoint connected to the IFN network to an endpoint connected to the INS network as easily as if it was connecting endpoints on its own network.