Pan American Cable, Most Advanced In The Region, Starts Commercial Traffic To The U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 3, 1999 -
MCI WorldCom, the single largest U.S. investor in the Pan American
Cable, will expand its broadband Internet and data access in Latin
America starting February 5 when the cable connects the U.S. with
Central and South American countries for the first time. The cable is
the most advanced and largest fiber optic cable ever in the region.
The completion of the Pan American cable is in line with MCI
WorldCom's aggressive international strategy to bring sorely needed
capacity to Latin American and multinational customers. The cable
provides the first undersea fiber-optic service to the north and the
west coast of South America and runs from the U.S. Virgin Islands to
Aruba, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. The most
advanced cable of its kind in the region is expected to lower
carriers' costs, which will be less than expensive satellite routes
previously used to deliver capacity. Traffic between South and Central
American countries will begin February 15.
"Being the leading U.S. investor in the Pan American cable
system demonstrates our commitment to our customers," said Seth
Blumenfeld, President, MCI WorldCom International Services and
Correspondent. "The Pan American Cable system enables MCI WorldCom
to expand the benefits of its On-Net strategy by extending the reach of
network facilities it owns or controls in the fast-growing Central and
South American telecommunications markets," added Blumenfeld.
The Pan American cable system will help offer greater capacity and
faster speed, higher service quality and new services including Fiber
International Private Line, Switched Voice, Global Frame Relay,
Switched 64, broadband switched services, and broadband Internet and
data access. In addition, customers will benefit from enhanced network
reliability and virtually instant restoration.
The other five partners include, in order of their investment,
Telefsnica de Peru, Telecom Italia, Andiantel, Pacifictel of Ecuador,
CANTV (Venezuela) and Telecom Colombia. MCI WorldCom de Venezuela and
Embratel, the Brazilian long distance company, are also investors in
the cable. Embratel will use the cable to extend its international
fiber network to countries in the Pacific coast of South America.
The new Pan American Cable is constructed as a trunk and branch
system operating in a collapsed ring configuration, allowing for self
healing within the cable. It is the first international South American
expandable cable to use SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) protocol
equipped to provide voice, data and video capacity of initially 2.5
gigabits/second, equivalent to 60,480 single voice channels. The cable
reaches 7,000 kilometers (about 4354 miles) in length at an estimated
cost of US$214 million.
MCI WorldCom is the largest U.S. wireline operator in Latin America
with 21 offices in 17 countries and alliances, joint ventures,
subsidiaries and significant stakes throughout the region. In Mexico
the company has Avantel, a joint venture with Banacci, in Brazil the
company owns a controlling stake in the Brazilian LD company Embratel
and in Venezuela the company has a wholly-owned subsidiary as MCI
WorldCom de Venezuela. Throughout Latin America, MCI WorldCom has a
joint venture with Telefonica, the largest international operator in
the region.
MCI WorldCom is a global communications company with revenue of more
than $30 billion and established operations in over 65 countries
encompassing the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. MCI
WorldCom is a premier provider of facilities-based and fully integrated
local, long distance, international and Internet services. MCI
WorldCom's global networks, including its state-of-the-art
pan-European network and transoceanic cable systems, provide end-to-end
high-capacity connectivity to more than 38,000 buildings worldwide. For
more information on MCI WorldCom, visit the World Wide Web at
www.mciworldcom.com or
www.wcom.com
.
