EVANSTON, Ill., Dec. 7 -- Nortel Networks, SBC Communications Inc. and its subsidiary SBC Ameritech and Northwestern University have created OMNInet (Optical Metro Network Initiative), a collaborative experimental network designed to assess and validate next-generation optical technologies, architectures and applications in metropolitan networks. The OMNInet technology trial, a four-site network located in Chicago, will provide a test bed for all-optical switching, advanced high-speed technology such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet and will test next-generation applications for healthcare, industrial design, finance and commerce. Applications being tested for future 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology include high-resolution streaming video to deliver full-screen, full-color, full-motion medical images to specialists at remote locations in real time. The trial will also test applications such as next-generation 3D visualization for industrial design, financially focused large-scale data transfers, data mining for scientific and commercial use and computational data-intensive science for high-bandwidth applications. "We believe that retail metro Ethernet services revenue is set to increase sharply over the next five years reaching over $4 billion by 2006," said Marian Stasney, senior analyst Carrier Convergence Infrastructure, The Yankee Group. "The pioneering work of OMNInet will speed the deployment of optical products in metro networks, where they're needed most."