About R&E networks

The primary focus of all regional and national research and education (R&E) network organisations (also known as RRENs and NRENs) is to provide reliable, high-capacity, high-speed network connectivity and services to universities and research institutions in their countries.

Many R&E networks go beyond this by also connecting vocational education providers and schools, as well as libraries and museums.

R&E networks offer national backbones and international connectivity at speeds and capacities well beyond typical commercial networks, in order to support today’s data intensive research and to provide a powerful testbed for new applications and services.

In many countries, the typical core capacity is now 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps), though some have reached 100 Gbps. Some R&E networks deploy several paths in their backbone, effectively increasing the capacity even further.

R&E networks experiment with new technologies and push the capabilities of existing technologies in order to meet the needs of research and education.

There are more than 125 R&E networks in the world, working together in a collegiate way as a global ‘network of networks’, enabling borderless collaboration and driving discovery and innovation.