Under the agreement GlobeNet will sell managed, broadband services from a number of South American cities to Europe and GTS will sell similar services between European cities and South America. The services will be provided jointly on GlobeNet's Atlantica-1 network and GTS's FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1) undersea network. Both cable systems feature a self-healing ring design.
Atlantica-1's first leg€”from New York through Bermuda to Fortaleza, Brazil€”is scheduled to be ready for service in September 2000. The full northern ring of the system, including Fortaleza to Venezuela to Florida and back to New York, is slated to be operational by year-end 2000. An additional link from Fortaleza to Rio de Janeiro is scheduled to be ready for service by February 2001. Atlantica-1 has a design capacity of 1.28 terabits per second (Tbps).
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Through its FA-1 network, GTS will connect its trans-European networks and New York. FA-1's northern undersea route, with 2.4 Tbps of transmission capacity, will be complete and operational in March 2001; with the full FA-1 ring slated to be operational in June 2001.
The Atlantica-1 and FA-1 networks will interconnect in New York under arrangements that will allow both GlobeNet and GTS to offer their carrier customers seamless, broadband, undersea cable capacity€”along with end-to-end extensions to major inland metropolitan centers€”through a single point of contact. GlobeNet and GTS will offer customers a flexible, open network architecture as well as the ability to co-locate at the cable landing stations and hosting sites in select cities. The arrangement will also facilitate ease of operation and interconnectivity with a variety of other domestic and international networks.
"Having successfully completed our financing for the Atlantica-1 network, GlobeNet is immediately moving to deliver maximum value and coverage for our carrier customers" said Jerry DeMartino, GlobeNet's chief executive officer. "By combining our complementary networks on a fully integrated, transparent basis, GlobeNet and GTS will be the first to offer seamless, city-to-city, broadband, fiber optic services between Europe and South America.We are delighted to be associated with GTS, an established and respected network operator whose approach fits neatly with GlobeNet's technology and service philosophy."
H. Brian Thompson, GTS's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "This agreement will serve to make our bandwidth offering all the more attractive. Not only will we be able to offer telecommunications and Internet companies broadband connectivity between North America and major cities throughout Europe, but, with this agreement, South America as well."
About GlobeNet
GlobeNet Communications Group Limited is an independent developer of international fiber optic facilities and a licensed international telecommunications carrier in Bermuda through its wholly-owned subsidiary, TeleBermuda International Limited (TBI). Through TBI, it has been providing a full range of international telecommunications services in Bermuda since its establishment in 1997. GlobeNet will provide total network capacity solutions to its wholesale customers, including provisioning of domestic facilities to complete end-to-end network requirements. The financing for the Atlantica-1 cable system is in place with no pre-RFS sales conditions that could delay the funding and scheduled completion dates. GlobeNet also has offices in New York, Toronto and Montreal and is traded on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (GLOCOM).
About GTS
Global TeleSystems Group is the most extensive network and service operator across Europe today, serving businesses and carriers in 20 European countries with a range of broadband, Internet/IP and voice services. GTS operates the first and currently most extensive trans-European broadband fiber network, with network points of presence in 24 European cities and stretching across more than 15,000 route kilometers. Through the use of state-of-the-art dense wavelength division multiplexing technology (DWDM), GTS operates over 50,000 active "wavelength" kilometers, making GTS a global pioneer in the use of this technology. In addition, GTS has announced plans to build Flag Atlantic-1, an advanced trans-Atlantic undersea dual cable system, in a 50:50 joint venture with Flag Telecom. GTS is extending its core network deeper into key European cities through the development of a number of City Enterprise Networks (CENs). GTS has rapidly grown through the acquisitions of Hermes Europe Railtel, Ebone, Esprit Telecom, Omnicom, NetSource and InTouch Telecom. In addition, GTS is the majority owner of Golden Telecom, which offers a variety of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Headquartered in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and with European headquarters in London, GTS has offices in over 70 European cities, including Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Budapest and Prague. Additional information about GTS, any of the current or planned IP services, the Ebone network and the GTS trans-European network is available on GTS's website at www.gtsgroup.net.
For more information, please contact:
At GlobeNet
Chris Valmassei, Optimum Public Relations: Tel.: +1 703 821 8637;
Fax: +1 703 847 0421; e-mail: cvalmassei@cossette.com