Not only would the gigaPOP let the state's universities and labs tap into the vast research potential of Internet 2, it could also eventually help speed up commercial Internet traffic within the state, says Art. St. George, manager of advanced communications technologies for CIRT and self titled "Internet 2 janitor" for the university.

"The gigaPOP will serve as a high-speed exchange point within the state as well," he says.

By aggregating the bandwidth needs of the state's institutions, it would also make connecting to national networks cheaper for everyone involved, he says.

Conceived in 1996, like the original Internet, Internet 2 was developed as a means by which universities and other institutions could quickly share data. The first Internet was established in 1969 by the Department of Defense to connect universities with the military organizations for which they performed research. Much of its funding came from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"Pretty soon, the NSF realized that it wasn't in the business of running national networks," St. George says.

The foundation handed the Internet off to commercial telecommunications companies in the early 1990s, paving the way for it to become the massive network of commercial activity that it is today. As the Internet quickly became congested with dot-com activity, another group of universities got together and proposed building a new one that would meet the promises that the original never lived up to. They formed the nonprofit consortium University Corp. for Advanced Internet Development, and with the help of major sponsors like Indiana University, Denver-based Qwest Communications and Sunnyvale, California-based Juniper Networks began building the 13,000-mile system, which remains off-limits to public use. Considered a sort of "sequel" to the Internet, many expect Internet 2's benefits -- such as new video and data transmission technologies -- to eventually reach the masses.

It costs money to belong -- some universities pay millions annually to run the project, which by some estimates costs about $300 million a year to operate. UNM pays about $110,000 a year for its 100 megabit connection, St. George says.

St. George says UNM's slow connection, on which the rest of the state's institutions depend, limits research opportunities. Yates agrees, noting that New Mexico is one of several locations, including Australia and the Netherlands, competing for the proposed Low Frequency Array Radar (LOFAR) radio telescope project under development by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy. Yates says high speed access to Internet 2 would be a key consideration for officials of LOFAR, which would be similar to the Very Large Array near Socorro.

"I think this is essential for research and development in the state of New Mexico," he says. "It's already seriously inhibiting our ability to compete nationally."

Other projects, like tele-medicine and distance education networks could also benefit from better access to Internet 2, according to CIRT. An improved connection would also help private businesses that work with government agencies and laboratories.