I found these on my desk...

[Johnny Eriksson <]

... 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