The effect of network formation on the secondary (Johari-Goldstein) beta-relaxation was investigated for polyvinyl-ethylene (PVE). Crosslinking affects the segmental (alpha-) process in the usual fashion, the networks exhibiting slower and more temperature-sensitive dynamics. However, the effect on the beta-process is the opposite. The secondary relaxation becomes faster and the activation energy slightly decreases with cross-linking. The strength of the intermolecular cooperativity governing the behavior of the alpha-process was assessed using the coupling model, with consistent results obtained from analysis of both the timescale separating the alpha- and beta-relaxations and the activation energy for the latter. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 582-587, 2010