The first stations of the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto (NE Italy) Accelerometric Network (RAF) were installed during 1993–1995 by the Department of Earth Sciences,University of Trieste (DST) (now Department of Mathematics and Geosciences (DMG)) in the framework of international scientific projects. Until 1999 the network was operated by DST in co-operation with ENEL-Ingegneria e Costruzioni. From the beginning the network has been equipped with digital, three-component instruments GMT time synchronized, mostly installed in small electricity transformer buildings. In November 1999 the collaboration between DST and ENEL ended due to the internal reorganization of the ENEL group. As a consequence, at the end of 1999, the configuration of the network changed. New more appropriate free-field sites were found near the original ones. RAF is today configured to record accelerations at several important sites in the seismic area of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) and near its borders with Slovenia and Austria. Its geometry has been studied taking into account the locations of stations belonging to other seismological agencies and networks operating in the neighbouring countries and in Italy.The RAF stations allow real-time or near-real-time data transmission to the seismological datacenters and to the Friuli Venezia Giulia Direction of the Civil Defence (FVG-DPC) headquarters. As a consequence the accelerations recorded at each site are immediately available after the earthquake occurrence.