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Who is AmLight?
AmLight (Americas Lightpaths) is a research and education network collaboration that operates high-capacity optical and IP network services interconnecting academic and scientific institutions across the Americas and with other global regions.
- Intercontinental research and education networking between South America, North America, the Caribbean, and other regions
- High-capacity optical transport and IP connectivity services for academic and scientific use cases (network infrastructure)
- Support for data-intensive science applications, including astronomy, high-energy physics, and earth sciences
- Collaboration framework among universities, research organizations, and network operators in the Americas
- Participation in network research, testbeds, and experimental architectures for advanced internet technologies
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More About AmLight
AmLight (Americas Lightpaths) provides network infrastructure that links research and education communities in the Americas with peers in other parts of the world. Its environment is oriented toward universities, national research and education networks (NRENs), large scientific facilities, and related institutions that require predictable, high-bandwidth connectivity for cross-border collaboration and data sharing. AmLight is structured as a collaboration that integrates multiple underlying physical and logical network resources into a cohesive interregional fabric.
The organization operates and coordinates optical transport and routed IP services (network connectivity) across submarine and terrestrial paths that connect South American NRENs and institutions with counterparts in North America and other regions. Architecturally, AmLight deploys high-capacity optical links, often based on Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technologies, combined with IP/MPLS routing platforms to provide both commodity IP transit and dedicated research and education paths. The network design typically includes redundant routes across multiple cable systems to support continuity of service for scientific traffic flows.
AmLight’s environment supports data movement requirements from projects such as optical astronomy, radio astronomy, high-energy physics, and environmental and earth observation programs, which commonly rely on large-scale data transfer tools and protocols over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The network is engineered to interoperate with campus and national backbones, and it generally aligns with standard research and education networking practices such as IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peering with NRENs and global R&E backbones, and support for virtual circuits using technologies like VLANs and related transport mechanisms where applicable.
Beyond production connectivity, AmLight participates in network research and experimentation activities. This can include testbeds focused on Software Defined Networking (SDN) (network research), programmable network control frameworks, and measurement platforms that gather performance and telemetry data about wide-area flows. Such work allows participating institutions to evaluate new network architectures and protocols in a cross-continental context while maintaining separation from general-purpose internet traffic when required.
From a marketplace and directory perspective, AmLight fits within the research and education networking (R&E networking) and international backbone connectivity (network infrastructure) categories. It is not a commercial carrier in the conventional enterprise Wide Area Network (WAN) services market; instead, its services are designed for institutions that are part of the academic and scientific ecosystem. Enterprise technical stakeholders typically engage with AmLight indirectly through their institution’s NREN, campus network groups, or collaborative science projects, leveraging AmLight’s interregional capacity as part of end-to-end architectures that also include local campus networks, national backbones, and other global R&E networks.
Our description of AmLight. Updated December 2025.
