The Chinese Government announced last week that CERNET2 has formally moved into operation. Currently, the network connects 25 universities in 20 cities. Transmission speeds are said to reach between 2.5 and 10 gigabits per second.

 

In early December 2004, trials between Beijing and Tianjin reportedly hit 40 gigabits per second. The government has said that the network is the first built on pure IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6), citing the dominance of the US in addresses based on IPv4 technology as one of the major motivators. The majority of the 25 universities connected to the network have applied for Slash48 IPv6 addresses. Plans are for the network to expand to 100 universities in the near future. 

 

In addition to financing from participating universities, the project has been supported in part by the CNGI (China Next-Generation Internet) fund of 1.4 billion RMB (US$169 million; US$1 = 8.3 RMB), half of which has been allocated for CERNET2 projects. The other half is slated for allocation to five domestic telecoms.

 

The government has stated that half of the equipment used in the network was supplied locally by players such as Huawei and Tsinghua Bit-Way.