Portugal is the first European country to have its NREN (National Research and EducationNetwork) connected by fibre, through the new generation of the European GÉANT network. The activation was made through the direct connection between Porto and Bilbao under the GÉANT project (GN4-3N).
On June 25, direct access was activated between the Science, Technology and Society Network (RCTS), the national research and education network managed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through its FCCN Unit, and the European GÉANT network. The installation was completed in the city of Porto, with a direct link to Bilbao, thus increasing the flexibility and redundancy of Portuguese connectivity.
This action, carried out under the GÉANT project (GN4-3N), is aligned with the RCTS100 project and allowed RCTS to be the first national research and education network (NREN) to migrate to the new generation of this fibre infrastructure of the European network.
In addition to this reinforcement of international connectivity, which guarantees protection of the network from possible failures, this new connection will, in articulation with the Lisbon-Oporto and Lisbon-Madrid routes, ensure significant benefits in the performance and flexibility of the network and its respective interconnections. Cost reduction benefits are also expected in the long term.
Thanks to this integration, Portugal will become the first country whose national research and education network migrates to the new GÉANT fiber network - the European network that connects the counterparts at FCCN. This European project to extend and update pan-European connectivity involves an investment of around 63 million euros and aims to support the transition of national networks to fiber connectivity, with a view to reducing the European digital divide . GÉANT's network infrastructure hasn't seen such deep and impactful upgrades in around ten years.
In Portugal, this new connection was accompanied, in terms of national connectivity, by the RCTS100 project, co-financed by Compete, Lisboa2020 and Algarve2020, through which FCCN has been working to strengthen the National Research and Education Network (RCTS), with a view to creating potential capacity to deliver 100Gbps services.
At the end of 2020, for example, six new connection routes were activated in Beja, Bragança, Vila Real and Viseu. Already in 2021, four new fibre rings were activated in the city of Lisbon.
"The RCTS100 [project] consists of extending the optical fiber infrastructure and technologically updating the Portuguese academic network," explains the General Coordinator of the Unit FCCN, João Nuno Ferreira, adding that "the design of the new GÉANT network, in which FCCN was directly involved from the outset, represents a historic milestone on several levels: not only does it increase the resilience of the RCTS in its connections to Europe and the rest of the world, but these connections are made using more flexible means and with greater capacity."
In conclusion, the general coordinator of FCCN adds that "it is also important to increase the resources of the GÉANT network, installed in the Iberian Peninsula, with greater redundancy in the connections to the other European regions, as well as a greater balance in the connections between the various regions. In this way, the communities of users of Science, Technology and Higher Education will be prepared and will have the appropriate means to embrace the new challenges of the funding cycle that is now beginning, both nationally and internationally."
A news item on GÉANT's CONNECT blog, dedicated to the same topic is available to read.
