"Our seamless global network will provide Venezuela with unprecedented levels of connectivity, facilitating faster, more reliable communications and a host of service options," said José Antonio RÃos, president of Global Crossing Latin America and the Caribbean. "We look forward to providing telecommunications carriers and multi-national businesses with cutting-edge services and access to the only truly global IP-based fiber network in the world."
Through its cable station in the Venezuelan coastal city of Puerto Viejo, Global Crossing's network travels to a secure facility in Caracas, where customers can obtain access to the network and interconnect to local loop providers. The high-capacity network in Venezuela, which has an initial capacity of 20 gigabits per second, will enable Global Crossing to offer a variety of new broadband, data and IP services, and will facilitate bandwidth-intensive applications such as streaming audio and video, telemedicine and distance learning.
"We are enthusiastic to bring our global resources and services to the Venezuelan market, which has tremendous potential for growth," said Aura Cecilia Rengifo, Global Crossing's managing director for the Andean Region. "Through our advanced IP-based fiber optic network, businesses in the country will be able to compete and provide services as rapidly and efficiently as any company in a major metropolitan city."
Global Crossing already is providing services in the three largest telecommunications markets in Latin America - Brazil, Argentina and Mexico - and, in addition to Venezuela, will be operational in Chile and Peru by the second quarter of this year. The company's clients in Latin America include AT&T Latin America Corp., Impsat Fiber Networks, Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Cable Onda, PSINet, and TechTel.