Oshean
OSHEAN is a non-profit regional research and education network operating a 700+ mile private Beacon fiber optic network, delivering carrier-class optical transport, networking, cybersecurity, and cloud services to 160+ Community Anchor Institutions across Rhode Island and New England.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersNorth Kingstown, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Oshean does
OSHEAN, Inc. is a non-profit coalition founded in 1999 and headquartered in Warwick, Rhode Island. It operates as a regional research and education network (REN) that delivers carrier-class optical transport, advanced IP-based networking, cybersecurity, and cloud services exclusively to its member Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs). Members include all of Rhode Island's higher education institutions, major healthcare systems (Lifespan, Care New England, BCBS RI), the majority of K-12 schools and libraries, RI state agencies, and community non-profits — totaling over 160 organizations.
The organization's core asset is the Beacon Network, a third-generation private optical platform spanning 700+ miles across Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts. Built on Cisco 15454 DWDM systems and Network Convergence System (NCS) hardware, the network operates as a Segment Routing and EVPN meshed architecture with multiple diverse BGP routes, 50ms optical path failover, and capacity multiplexing 40 wavelengths of 400Gbit each on a 48-strand fiber plant — yielding hundreds of terabytes of total bandwidth. Direct peering with Google, Netflix, and Akamai CDN caches handles an estimated 30-40% of member IP traffic on-net. OSHEAN also serves as the Regional Network Connector for Internet2, providing members access to the nationwide 400/800Gbps R&E backbone and Cloud Exchange fabric interconnecting AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud.
OSHEAN generates revenue through annual membership fees and subscription-based service contracts. It does not publicly disclose pricing; services are delivered through membership agreements and supported by a 24/7 Network Operations Center. The portfolio is organized into three pillars — Network (Beacon, Internet Access, Internet2, NEREN, Cloud), Cybersecurity (Fortinet-managed firewall for 100+ members, Cisco Umbrella DNS, Cisco Duo MFA, Cloudflare DDoS scrubbing, Armis Centrix exposure management, SecureWorks vulnerability scanning, Apptega GRC), and Support. The organization is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors and operates without external equity ownership or parent company. A single $32M Federal BTOP grant in 2010 funded the original fiber and MPLS backbone buildout; no subsequent equity or debt capital events are disclosed. Headcount stands at approximately 25 staff including a President & CEO, CTO, CISO, and two Vice Presidents.
Oshean firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Oshean
- Legal name
- OSHEAN, Inc.
- Website
- https://oshean.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- OSHEAN is a non-profit regional research and education network operating a 700+ mile private Beacon fiber optic network, delivering carrier-class optical transport, networking, cybersecurity, and cloud services to 160+ Community Anchor Institutions across Rhode Island and New England.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Oshean industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Research and Education Network Services
- NAICS
- Wired Telecommunications Carriers (517111), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Security Systems Services (56162)
- SIC
- Communications Services, Nec (4899)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration) (BPAEAEAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- DNS Security Appliances (HDAFAFAK), VPN & Remote Access Gateways (HDADABAD), Cloud Network Security (Microsegmentation, Cloud Firewall, WAF, DDoS) (HDABAHAJ)
Keywords
Where Oshean is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- North Kingstown
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Oshean business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Membership Services: OSHEAN operates as a non-profit coalition where Community Anchor Institutions become members to access carrier-class optical transport, advanced IP-based networking, security, and cloud solutions. Revenue is generated through membership fees and service subscriptions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Membership-based service model for Community Anchor Institutions |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Oshean product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OSHEAN delivers carrier-class optical transport over its 700+ mile private Beacon Network, along with advanced IP-based networking, managed cybersecurity, and cloud connectivity, exclusively to its 160+ member Community Anchor Institutions. Members receive bundled managed services including Internet access, Internet2 research network connectivity, cloud exchange access (AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle), managed firewall (Fortinet), DDoS protection (Cloudflare), DNS security (Cisco Umbrella), MFA (Cisco Duo), vulnerability scanning (SecureWorks), cyber exposure management (Armis Centrix), and GRC (Apptega), supported by a 24/7 Network Operations Center.
Product overview
OSHEAN is a non-profit regional research and education network (REN) that delivers a comprehensive portfolio of technology services to community anchor institutions (CAIs) including healthcare organizations, higher education, K-12 schools, libraries, and government agencies. The core offering is the Beacon Network, a 700+ mile carrier-class optical transport infrastructure built on Cisco DWDM technology with Segment Routing and EVPN. The service portfolio is organized around three pillars: Network (Beacon Network, Internet Access, Internet2 Connectivity, NEREN, Cloud Access), Security (Fortinet Firewall-as-a-Service, Cisco Umbrella DNS Protection, Cisco Duo MFA, Armis Centrix cyber exposure management, Apptega GRC platform, Cloudflare DDoS mitigation, SecureWorks vulnerability scanning), and Cybersecurity. OSHEAN provides managed services where they first deploy and test technology internally before offering it to members at discounted rates with integrated support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Beacon Network: OSHEAN's 700+ mile third-generation optical transport network serving as a cornerstone of regional critical infrastructure, built on Cisco DWDM and NCS systems with Segment Routing and EVPN architecture.
Products and services
- Beacon Network 700+ mile private 48-strand optical transport network built on Cisco DWDM and NCS systems, with Segment Routing and EVPN meshed architecture, 50ms optical path failover, and hundreds of terabytes of bandwidth capacity across 40 DWDM wavelengths (each 400Gbit). Delivered exclusively to OSHEAN's 160+ member Community Anchor Institutions across Rhode Island and New England.
- Internet Access Services Commodity internet access provided via diversely located aggregation facilities with redundant core routers and ISP connections. Includes pooled bandwidth allocation, 50% burst capability, and CDN private peering that optimizes 20-40% of traffic on-net for member institutions.
- Internet2 Connectivity
Quantifiable outcome
- 50ms optical path failover for highly resilient network SLAs
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Oshean
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Oshean technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration13 records
AI capability3 records
Feature6 records
Oshean partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- ApptegacoreOSHEAN launched a new Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) service powered by Apptega, designed to help members simplify and operationalize cybersecurity and compliance programs. The platform brings security, risk, and compliance activities into a single centralized platform enabling continuous compliance management and audit readiness.
- ArmiscoreOSHEAN partnered with Armis to deliver enterprise-grade cyber exposure management powered by Armis Centrix. The partnership strengthens OSHEAN's managed security services portfolio, enabling members to move beyond visibility toward measurable risk reduction and improved security performance across IT, OT, and IoT environments.
- CloudflarecoreMulti-faceted strategic partnership with Cloudflare for DDoS mitigation across all member network connections. OSHEAN uses Cloudflare's platform for automated DDoS protection architecture, routing affected traffic to Cloudflare's volumetric scrubbing center. The partnership also enables OSHEAN to offer Cloudflare portfolio products to its membership.
- Cisco (ThousandEyes)coreExpansion of Cisco partnership to add ThousandEyes Digital Experience Assurance for IP and Cloud visibility. OSHEAN uses ThousandEyes internally and offers individual instances to members, providing end-to-end visibility across end-user devices, networks, and SaaS for outage detection and optimized digital experiences.
- FortinetcoreOSHEAN is a trusted partner of Fortinet, offering FortiGate Advanced Firewall to member organizations. FortiGate provides comprehensive threat protection, content filtering, Zero Trust Network Access, and HIPAA/FISMA compliance support for K-12, higher education, government, and healthcare sectors.
- Internet2coreOSHEAN serves as the Regional Network Connector for Internet2, the Nationwide 400/800Gbps research and education backbone. This provides OSHEAN members access to Internet2 services including Cloud Exchange for direct connectivity to AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle and other major application providers.
- NEREN (Northeast Regional Education Network)coreOSHEAN is a founding member of NEREN which operates a 400Gbps fiber network throughout New England and New York. NEREN connects important Northeast data centers in Hartford, Springfield, Worcester, Cambridge, Providence, New York City and Albany NY, providing geographic diversity and connectivity to national resources.
- Cisco DuosupportingCisco Duo Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) deployed internally and offered to members to safeguard user access and reduce risk of unauthorized logins.
- Cisco UmbrellasupportingDNS protection solution blocking malicious domains before threats can reach member networks, adding an extra layer of defense.
- SecureWorkssupportingVulnerability scanning (VDR) service providing comprehensive visibility tool at attractive pricing for OSHEAN members.
- Google (Caching)supportingGoogle caching servers housed in OSHEAN's major hub locations as part of on-net caching systems.
- Netflix (Caching)supportingNetflix caching servers housed in OSHEAN's major hub locations for local content delivery.
- Akamai (Caching)supportingAkamai caching servers housed in OSHEAN's major hub locations for CDN content delivery.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Oshean competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Cisco Systems: Primary technology vendor and strategic partner for OSHEAN's Beacon Network (DWDM, NCS, ThousandEyes, Umbrella, Duo). Provides the underlying infrastructure and managed security platforms that OSHEAN delivers to its membership.
Broad incumbents
- GÉANT: Europe's pan-European research and education networking organization. Operates REN services at a much larger continental scale but shares the same mission of serving research and education communities with high-performance networking.
- Lumen Technologies: Large national carrier offering fiber, managed services, and cybersecurity to enterprise and government customers. Overlaps with OSHEAN in selling transport and security services to healthcare and government, but at vastly larger scale and across geographies.
- Internet2: The nationwide 400/800Gbps research and education backbone for which OSHEAN serves as Regional Network Connector. Operates at a much larger national scale but shares the same REN model and member community.
Direct peers
- NYSERNet: New York State Education and Research Network providing advanced networking and cybersecurity services to research and education institutions. Direct peer in the REN space with comparable managed services approach.
- CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California): California's REN serving K-12, higher education, libraries, and research institutions with high-bandwidth networking. Very similar model to OSHEAN with a community anchor institution focus and managed security services.
- NEREN (Northeast Regional Education Network): A 400Gbps fiber network throughout New England and New York that OSHEAN is a founding member of. Provides geographic diversity and connectivity to Northeast data centers, directly comparable as a regional research and education network serving community anchor institutions.
- Merit Network: Michigan-based non-profit REN serving education, government, healthcare, and libraries with high-performance networking and cybersecurity services. Operates under a similar member-owned coalition model as OSHEAN.
- MCNC: North Carolina's non-profit REN operating NCREN and providing broadband, cybersecurity, and cloud services to community anchor institutions across the state. Closely comparable mission, structure, and service portfolio to OSHEAN.
- LEARN (Lonestar Education and Research Network): Texas-based REN providing high-bandwidth networking and cloud connectivity to K-20 education, libraries, and government entities. Similar model to OSHEAN serving community anchor institutions in a single-state region.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Oshean social profiles
Digital presenceOshean compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
Oshean financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Oshean leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Oshean funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Oshean M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Oshean
What does Oshean do?
OSHEAN delivers carrier-class optical transport over its 700+ mile private Beacon Network, along with advanced IP-based networking, managed cybersecurity, and cloud connectivity, exclusively to its 160+ member Community Anchor Institutions. Members receive bundled managed services including Internet access, Internet2 research network connectivity, cloud exchange access (AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle), managed firewall (Fortinet), DDoS protection (Cloudflare), DNS security (Cisco Umbrella), MFA (Cisco Duo), vulnerability scanning (SecureWorks), cyber exposure management (Armis Centrix), and GRC (Apptega), supported by a 24/7 Network Operations Center.
Is Oshean a public or private company?
Oshean is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Oshean founded?
Oshean was founded in 1999. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Oshean based?
Oshean is headquartered in North Kingstown, United States, in the North America region.
How does Oshean make money?
One revenue line is on record: membership Services.
Who are Oshean's main competitors?
Cisco Systems is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are GÉANT, Lumen Technologies and Internet2. Direct peers are NYSERNet, CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California), NEREN (Northeast Regional Education Network), Merit Network, MCNC and LEARN (Lonestar Education and Research Network).
Does Oshean have an API?
No public API is recorded for Oshean.
What industry is Oshean in?
Oshean's product category is Research and Education Network Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAEAG, Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration), with a secondary code of HDAFAFAK, DNS Security Appliances. Its NAICS code is 517111 and its SIC code is 4899.