EVALSO, an enabling communication infrastructure for Astronomy

EVALSO (Enabling Virtual Access to Latin-American Southern Observatories) is an international consortium of nine astronomical organisations, and research network operators, part-funded under the European Commission FP7, to create and exploit high-speed bandwidth connections to South American observatories. The paper, after describing the genesis of the project and the selection and construction of the communication infrastructure, analyses the application aspects and the possibilities that the new infrastructure can open within the astronomical and education community, special attention is given to the experience done at RUB, one of the project members.