What is the Internet 2?

Internet2 is a non-profit consortium which develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies, for education and high-speed data transfer purposes.

Internet2, with help from its members, created the Abilene Network, a U.S. high-performance backbone network. Abilene is a private network used for education and research, but is not entirely isolated, since its members usually provide alternative access to many of their resources through the public Internet. Abilene is not technically part of the Internet since it does not peer with the public Internet networks.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abilene_Network
http://www.qwest.com/about/qwest/internet2/faqs.html
http://www.internet2.edu/about/