... and I typed them in, for all of you to see. * * * COMMISSION Brussels, * * SH\kd\030692a * * OF THE EUROPEAN A\13\009262 * * DGXIII A-2 * * * COMMUNITIES Mr. Kees Neggers RARE President c/o RARE Secretariat Singel 466-468 NL - 1017 AW Amsterdam Dear Mr. Neggers, Thank you for your letter ref COA(92)051 concerning the proposal for a gateway between IXI and the participants in the Ebone initiative. I find the proposals to further the integration of the European research networks highly encouraging. In particular, your intention, stated in our meeting of 8 May, to bring the Ebone initiative to an end at the end of 1992 and to unite the participants with the IXI production service is a major advance which will reinforce the cohesion of the research community which COSINE has promoted. Clearly there is a need for urgent action to coordinate Ebone and IXI as they now operate. I have in mind the imminent disconnection of the NIKHEF access point, which has until now carried a large proportion of the traffic between IXI and the various users of IP in Europe. Since RARE has not yet responded to the request of the COSINE Policy Gruop to coordinate funding for the NIKHEF access point, the gateway will in all probability be closed at the end of June 1992. This underlines the requirement, which we both recognise, for coordination in the research community, and proper management of network resources. Your points concerning peripheral countries, in particular, emphasise the importance of the managed network solution, as apposed to the current reliance on individual leased lines. My understanding, then, is that Ebone '92 will conclude at the end of 1992, at which time it will migrate to the IXI multi-protocol backbone service, and that it is not intended to be a rival organisation. On this basis, I find installation of the proposed gateway a desirable action, and am prepared to expedite its installation. I would be grateful if you could confirm my understanding. Yours sincerely, H. Hunke Mr Horst Hunke Ref. EC(92)065 CEC DG XIII Amsterdam, 15.07.92 BA29 1/68 200 rue de la Loi 1049 Bruxelles Belgium Dear Mr. Hunke, Thank you for your reaction SH\kd\030692a to our letter concerning the proposed gateway between IXI and Ebone. As stated before, we share your feeling on the requerement of coordination and integration of networking in the European research community. You will be pleased to know that the Ebone Management Committee, in its last meeting of 25 June, has decided to propose to the Ebone Consortium members that they agree that the Operational Unit takes full organizational and operational control over the Ebone '93 IP services. It is our understanding that the Operational Unit Steering Committee has welcomed this proposal and is working along the lines of the proposal (full statement is attached). We hope that the Operational Unit shareholders will accept this offer. In the meantime, it is important to achieve integration to a level currently possible and therefore we would welcome the expedited installation of the proposed IXI-Ebone gateway, for which you have to communicate the formal apporoval to PTT Telecom. Yours sincerely, Tomaz Kalin RARE Secretary General [attachment: Ebone Management Committee's full statement] cc: RARE Executive Committee