INTERNATIONAL LINKS FOR RESEARCH COLLABORATION

The European and US Research Communities have been linked for fifteen years by various communication channels. Recently, it has been decided to upgrade some of the connections to higher speed links. These links can support not only the conventional services like terminal access, file transfer, electronic mail and directory services, but also video conferencing using compressed video. Moreover the channels are being provided by different agencies with different missions and support different protocols and services. Some of the technical aspects of the links, and the policy and administrative questions which have had to be resolved, are discussed in this paper; there is particular emphasis on the UK-US link, but the discussion includes extension to other European countries. We then discuss at length the provision of video conferencing facilities over the UK-US channel, and consider how such facilities could be provided on a broader European basis.