Connecticut Education Network (CEN), the nation’s first all-optical research and education network, delivers reliable, high-speed internet access, data transport, and value added services to its members throughout Connecticut. CEN helps deliver on the promise of equality in education by providing access to technology that schools and libraries would not be able to afford on their own. This investment is supported by private schools and institutions of higher education that are committed to the idea of overall improvement in education and broad support for access to technology. In an effort to remove barriers to technology, CEN supports "Open Access" use of the network, which allows any entity to join the network at a fair price. “Open Access” provides greater access for areas of the state from where it has been prohibitively expensive to obtain high-speed internet access, and could include town-to-town sharing of databases and remote access to municipal applications.