DARPA, NSF, NASA, and DoE all have requirements to connect their CONUS grantees and contractors with a computer network to colleagues and facilities in the United Kingdom. In the past, these needs have been met by each Agency individually, through individual procurements of low-speed (9600 to 56,000 baud), typically satellite, circuits between networks at affected sites on either side of the Atlantic. Substantial economies of scale exist in the telecommunications industry. Through discussions leading to mutual agreements, the agencies are able to meet all their needs for US-UK computer connectivity by sharing a single fractional-T1 (512 kb/s) fiber-optic circuit. DARPA have agreed to act as the agent for procuring the circuit; the purpose of this project is to compensate DARPA for NSF's agreed-to share of the cost.
