Crossing Ltd. (Nasdaq:GBLX, BSX: GBLX.BH), which is building and operating the world's most advanced global IP-based fiber optic network, announced today the landing of its network in Argentina. The landing at the Global Crossing cable station in Las Toninas, Argentina is an
important milestone in the construction of the 18,000 km South American Crossing (SAC), which will connect the major cities of South
America to more than 200 cities around the world.
"The technology we are bringing to Argentina and the rest of Latin America will affect the way millions of people in the region communicate with each other and with the world around them," said
Patrick Joggerst, president of Global Crossing South America. "Global Crossing is offering new dimensions of connectivity to help bridge existing gaps in international lines of communication - linking major cities in Latin America with centers of global business around the world."
The Las Toninas cable station will be linked to the city of Buenos Aires via a 350 km terrestrial fiber optic connection. From Buenos Aires, SAC will connect Rosario, Cordoba and Mendoza in Argentina before crossing the Andes Mountains to connect Santiago and Valparaiso in Chile. The system then will travel north along the Pacific coast of South America with landings in Lurin, Peru and the Pacific Coast of Colombia, and additional landings in Panama and Caracas, Venezuela. SAC will also connect the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to the cable Station of Fortaleza before landing in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.
SAC will feature roughly ten times the capacity of current telecommunication systems serving Latin America, dramatically increasing
availability of bandwidth to allow for the development of new applications in the transmission of voice, data and Internet communications. The system will enable Internet service providers in the region to offer faster
connection speeds, leading to quicker downloads and supporting popular applications such as streaming audio and video.
"The communications platform we are building in Argentina and throughout Latin America and the world is nothing short of revolutionary," said Luisa Cerar, Global Crossing's managing director
for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. "A strong presence in Argentina is imperative to the successful development of this pioneering effort, and this network will benefit its users by lowering costs of international connections."