Pacific Gateway Exchange Announces Major Expansion of
Global Network With Investment in TAT-14 Cable System
September 4, 1998
BURLINGAME, Calif., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ via
NewsEdge Corporation -- Pacific Gateway Exchange
(Nasdaq: PGEX) signed a formal agreement with a group
of leading international telecommunications companies
to build an undersea cable system valued in excess of $1
billion. The TAT-14 Cable Network connects the United
States with the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands
and Denmark, and is expected to be in service by the end
of 2000. The initial parties involved in the on going
planning of the new cable network include AT&T, BT,
Cable & Wireless, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom,
KPN, MCII, Sprint, Swisscom, Telia and Pacific Gateway.
Pacific Gateway is one of the largest investors with its
$70 million commitment in the 15,000 kilometer,
self-healing ring system planned for expansion to
operate at 640 gigabits per second. Using state-of-the-art
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) technology, the
system's capacity will be the largest in the region. "As
the industry changes rapidly from traditional
international telephony services, Pacific Gateway plans
to be a leader in providing global bandwidth-based data
and multimedia services. The capacity acquired in the
TAT-14 Cable Network is a key part of the strategy to
grow the Pacific Gateway global network. Along with the
recently announced investment of $86 million in the
Japan-US Cable Network, this will more than triple our
existing investment in Pacific Gateway's international
network," said Mr. Howard A Neckowitz, President and
CEO of Pacific Gateway.
"The acquisition of significant Transatlantic TAT-14
capacity coupled with the recently announced
acquisition in the Japan-US Cable Network provides two
of the key links for the launch of our global services
portfolio. Continuing to focus on the expansion of our
global network expect further announcements on
capacity acquisition activities for Europe and North
America and on the network equipment evaluation and
selection process. With this latest facility acquisition
expect Pacific Gateway to announce innovative and
competitive multimedia service offerings connecting
Western Europe and North America with Asia," said Mr.
Tom Murphy, Executive Vice President Global Networks
and Multimedia Services.
Pacific Gateway Exchange, Inc. is a facilities based
international telecommunications carrier providing
services primarily to its target customer base of
telecommunications service providers worldwide. The
Company and its offshore subsidiaries are a party to 43
operating agreements or landing rights in 28 countries
and has partial ownership interests in 18 digital undersea
fiber optic cable systems providing for the exchange of
telecommunications traffic with foreign carriers. The
Company recently announced its commitment to invest
$86 million in the Japan-US Cable Network positioning
the Company as a low cost provider of services for the
future. Pacific Gateway presently operates switching and
international gateway facilities in New York, Los
Angeles, Dallas, the United Kingdom, Russia, New
Zealand and is in development in ten additional offshore
sites.
Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: this press release contains
statements that are not historical facts and may be
considered "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially can be found in the
documents the Company files with the SEC, including
the availability of additional cable capacity at reasonable
prices; the capacity of systems that may be constructed
in the future; construction timetables and possible
delays; and other factors set forth in its Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 1997.
SOURCE Pacific Gateway Exchange
/CONTACT: Sandra Grey, Chief Financial Officer, Pacific
Gateway Exchange, 650-375-6700/ /Web site:
pgexchange.com (PGEX)
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire]
|
