Managed by the University of Texas System Office of Telecommunication Services, the Texas Higher Education Network (THEnet) is a subscriber organization that provides Internet access to education, research and health care institutions in Texas.

The U.T. System Office of Telecommunication Services (OTS) is on the move in the provision of special services to its community ---

o IT and networking support for public sector entities during Hurricanes IKE, Rita and Katrina

o Networking support, in conjunction with the Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN), for the Super Computing 2008 Conference in Austin, November 16-21, 2008

o Internet and Internet2 access for the EDUCAUSE 2006 Conference, October 9-12, 2006, in Dallas

o Internet and Internet2 access for the Internet2 Fall Member Meeting, September 27-30, 2004, in Austin

At this Internet2 meeting, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, and Texas House of Representatives Speaker Tom Craddick announced the initial capital funding for LEARN.
Since then, OTS has engineered and operated a Texas-wide IP backbone network for the U.T. System and THEnet using intercity fiber optic links leased from LEARN. That network was recently upgraded to 10 Gigabit.