Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) is part of the overall vision and objectives of IT Action Plan that was launched by Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman as Minister of Science and Technology. The project is financed by the Government of Pakistan in cooperation with PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited) Research and Development funds. The network is designed, operated, and maintained by NTC (National Telecommunication Corporation). The project is aimed to be an integral part of the overall Education System of the country and is designed to interlink all Public / Private Sector Chartered Universities / Degree awarding Institutes registered with Higher Education Commission, Government of Pakistan.

Inauguration

The project was launched by the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf.

Sponsors

Higher Education Commission
Ministry of Science and Technology (IT and Telecomm Division)
PTCL

Objectives

In its first phase the project is planned to provide:

1. A dedicated Educational Network for 56 Public/Private Sector chartered Universities/Degree awarding Institutes registered with the Higher Education Commission Government of Pakistan. The interconnectivity of all these universities / institutes will provide integration of data banks, collaboration for research and development activities and up-gradation of teaching and learning skills.
2. Internet facility to 56 Public/ Private sector chartered Universities/Degree awarding Institutes registered with the Higher Education Commission Government of Pakistan.
3. Access platform for the interconnection of universities/educational institutions with the Virtual University.

PERN Architecture

Existing Optical Fiber System of PTCL/NTC and IP/ATM backbone of NTC is utilized for the CORE network of PERN. The network design of PERN consists of three nodal points at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The educational institutions are connected to their respective nodal point by a 256 Kb/s to 6Mbps link from the nearest exchange of NTC/PTCL using OFS, DXX (or better system), DRS or VSAT, whichever is technically feasible. Routers are installed at University premises by the Universities to provide connectivity with the access routers from the nearest node. The three nodal locations are interconnected on existing optical fiber system and terminate the Internet facility in the pool. Currently, the interconnection of three main nodes is on 34x34 Mbps and Internet connectivity is 65 Mbps for Islamabad, 33 Mbps for Lahore and 57 Mbps for Karachi. The bandwidth will be increased as per requirement. This architecture allows institutions to pool resources with each other through national fiber network and to access Internet from the respective nodal points.

Future Expansion

In the first phase of the project 56 educational institutions have been connected through PERN. Rest of the 59 HEC recognized universities in Pakistan will be connected in the PERN-II project phase.