Mississippi State is set to connect to Internet2, providing researchers with access to a computer network 100 times faster than the existing general Internet.

The university recently signed agreements with the national consortium implementing Internet2 and is ready to tap into the national backbone network. Major telecommunications companies providing the high-speed circuits to the university expect the connection to be operating by the start of the fall semester in mid-August.

Funding for the Internet2 connection was awarded to Mississippi State last year by the National Science Foundation through a competitive grant program. MSU won the state's first such award on the basis of its record of research and instruction using high bandwidth networks.

The university will be part of the Abilene Project, a high-performance network that spans more than 10,000 miles and will connect about 70 major research universities and federal laboratories to Internet2.

The Internet2 connection will help the university achieve its goal of moving into the ranks of the nation's top 50 research universities, said Joe Thompson, MSU's chief technology officer.