[1925] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
MCC SELECTS UUNET TECHNOLOGIES TO DELIVER EINET
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rick Adams)
Wed Jan 8 16:52:56 1992
From: rick@uunet.uu.net (Rick Adams)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 16:51:52 EST
For Further Information Contact:
Bill Stotesbery, MCC 512-338-3785
Donnalyn Frey, UUNET 703-764-9342
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MCC SELECTS UUNET TECHNOLOGIES TO DELIVER EINET
Austin, Texas -- January 8, 1992 -- The Microelectronics and Computer
Technology Corporation (MCC) has selected UUNET Technologies Inc.
(Falls Church, VA) as the carrier for its Enterprise Integration
Network (EINet), a national enterprise integration information
network.
MCC will utilize UUNET's AlterNet public TCP/IP network service as the
backbone of the EINet system. AlterNet is a contract wide-area
network service, providing a variety of connection options and a high
level of access to other networks, including the Internet.
According to Roy Smith, director of MCC's Enterprise Integration
Division, UUNET was selected after an extensive competitive selection
process. "We conducted a thorough analysis of network providers, and
chose UUNET because of the compatibility of their corporate objectives
with EINet's goals and their extensive experience in key networking
areas," says Smith.
EINet is a national communications network announced late in 1991 by
MCC, in cooperation with several national research organizations and
consortia, including the Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University,
SEMATECH, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), and
the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI). Participation in EINet is
open to all U.S. organizations interested in the development of the
electronic commerce network. Foreign organizations may also
participate in EINet, to the extent that their participation enhances
the global competitiveness of U.S. corporations.
EINet's goal is the widespread electronic exchange of information and
services, both internally between departments or divisions and
externally with customers, suppliers, and development partners. EINet
is envisioned as a starting point, or rallying point, to
collaboratively guide and develop the necessary ideas and technologies
for a global commercial inter-network, which will be central to
business activity.
EINet is planned as a federation of networks or an "internet." Each
participant will continue to operate its separate corporate network
facilities, policies, budgets, and administration. These disparate
networks will be brought together in EINet by the efforts of MCC and
the EINet members to employ common standards for protocols and data
interchange, to agree on common guidelines for governance of the
network, to provide and operate shared resources, to develop software
for common use as necessary, and to commit to "making it work" by
first, encouraging member employees in their use of the network and
second, by creatively enhancing both the network and the members' own
businesses by providing commercial services to it.
"The agreement with UUNET will provide a nucleus for EINet,"
according to Smith. MCC will establish initial connectivity,
information, and directory services through AlterNet. From the
outset, data communications facilities will be oriented towards
incremental interconnection of other networks, including members'
private networks, and in the future, via the "variable bandwidth on
demand" technologies of public frame relay and switched data services.
The initial content of information services will be provided by MCC
and augmented with selective forwarding of information services
provided on other networks (with an emphasis on providing an
"information outlet" for the cooperating consortia and research
organizations). MCC will control the host conventional back-end
software, promote experimental software, and act as a "trusted
intermediary" for authentication services and encryption key
distribution.
The initial EINet information services -- provided by MCC, the Iacocca
Institute, NCMS, SEMATECH, ITI and participating companies -- will
focus on the synthesis and analysis of EI technology, standards, and
methodology activities worldwide. These basic services will be
augmented over time by more sophisticated company-to-company services,
such as Technical Data Interchange (TDI) for exchanging engineering,
modeling, and drawings.
While the definitions of these services will be largely participant
led, MCC will actively aid the process by using and enhancing common
standards for protocols and data interchange, by providing and
operating shared resources, and by accelerating the network's growth
through seed funding of experimental services.
UUNET Technologies, Inc. is an international networking corporation
providing domestic and international communications and information
services to over 2,300 customers worldwide. UUNET's electronic mail
and news services provide a dedicated, accessible, and reliable
facility for international electronic mail and electronic news,
including mail access to the Internet.
The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) is a
cooperative R&D enterprise whose mission is to strengthen and sustain
the competitiveness of member companies who share common elements of a
technical vision in information technology. MCC's membership currently
includes 22 shareholders and 48 associate members. In addition to its
Enterprise Integration Division, MCC also conduct research in its High
Value Electronics Division, Distributed Intelligent Information
Division and Computer Physics Laboratory.
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