CESTime – a White Rabbit nationwide network for Czechia
CESNET launches the academic part of the CESTime network. In the coming months NIX.CZ, the largest Internet Exchange Point in the country, will enable industry to connect to the CESTime network through its infrastructure.
CESNET, a White Rabbit Collaboration Member, together with NIX.CZ, the largest Neutral Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in the Czech Republic launched CESTime to bring sub-nanosecond synchronisation to users across the country thanks to White Rabbit.
CESTime is traceable to Czech reference time and consists of 26 links that together form four rings, providing redundancy in case of an outage. It is comprised of a metropolitan infrastructure around Prague that interconnects the research infrastructures in the surrounding area as well as an international link to Vienna, used primarily to compare the Czech and Austrian time standards.
Just like the Internet in the 1990s, the CESTime network is being developed in phases. In the first phase, where we are today, it provides services to the academic community. In the second phase, which we will launch later this year, NIX.CZ will enable all other organizations to connect to the CESTime network through its infrastructure. There are many cases where industry needs accurate synchronisation, find out more here.
What to find out more about CESTime?
About CESNET
CESNET joined the White Rabbit Collaboration in 2026. CESNET is the Czech NREN (National Research and Education Network). Founded in 1996 by public universities and the Czech Academy of Sciences, it operates the national e-infrastructure for research and education, including the national academic backbone network. This photonic infrastructure utilizes multi-channel DWDM technology to reach transmission speeds of up to 400 Gb/s per channel, interconnecting the country’s primary scientific, educational, and research institutions.
A fundamental pillar of this infrastructure is its direct integration with the pan-European GÉANT network. High-capacity redundant links connect CESNET to GÉANT, providing Czech researchers and students with access to the global research and education community.
Beyond high-capacity data transmission, CESNET is also an active research organization that pioneers advanced non-data optical applications. It is globally recognized for developing specialized infrastructure dedicated to ultra-precise time and frequency transfer.
By operating its own atomic clocks and transmitting accurate time and ultra-stable frequency signals alongside high-speed data streams over thousands of kilometers of fiber, CESNET successfully interconnects research institutes and the Czech National Time and Frequency Laboratory.