[O happy days]
Consolidation fury. I wonder if this recent mania will have an effect on the auction?
Congrats all.
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Fwiw, a telecom article from BW:
<A> AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Others Invest in Americas II Cable System; New System to Link U.S., Caribbean, South America
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao--An international consortium consisting of AT&T, MCI, Sprint, EMBRATEL of Brazil, and over 30 other telecommunications carriers today signed a construction and maintenance agreement to build a new fiber optic undersea cable system linking the United States with the Caribbean and South America.
The Americas II Cable System will span more than 8,000 kilometers and cost an estimated $375 million. Tyco Submarine Systems International Ltd., and Alcatel Submarine Network Systems will build the system, which is expected to be completed and in service by September 1999.
The collapsed ring system will utilize synchronous digital hierarchy technology and consist of four pairs of optical fiber cable. Each fiber pair will operate at 2.5 gigabits per second, per wavelength, for a total of 40 gigabits per second, allowing the transmission of more than 600,000 simultaneous calls. The new system is also ten times the capacity of the present Americas I system, which went into service in September 1994.
Additional Data and Internet capacity is needed in Latin America due to the astounding growth rates. For example, the Internet has grown faster in Latin America than any other communications medium or consumer electronic technology. Surveys of major Latin American ISPs suggest over one million Latin Americans use the Internet, with the number of Internet users for businesses and homes increasing by almost 100 percent monthly.
"Americas II is designed to accommodate the surging need for state-of-the-art communications technology in the Americas Region well beyond the start of the 21st century," said Thomas McInerney, managing director for AT&T's international cable planning group.
"The Latin American telecom market is valued at $36 billion and is projected to grow to over $60 billion by the year 2000. The Americas II cable will enhance MCI's support of our customers' telecommunications needs in Latin America as data and internet traffic continue to grow at staggering rates," said Seth Blumenfeld, President & COO, MCI International.
"America's II will for the first time bring an unprecedented level of flexibility of use and assignment for carriers," said Malcolm Petty, assistant vice president of International Services Integration at Sprint. "This system will favorably position Sprint for the free market telecom explosion envisioned in this area for the year 2000 and beyond."
The new system will consist of three rings, a north ring, west ring and south ring. The north ring will start at the landing point in Florida, then connect to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The south ring will connect the U.S. Virgin Islands to Brazil, French Guyana (including direct connections to Suriname and Guyana), Martinique, Trinidad, Venezuela, and Curacao. The west ring will connect the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico. A southwest system will directly connect Venezuela and Curacao. This is the first time a single cable will connect Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana.
Other investors in the cable system include ANTELECOM of the Netherlands, CANTV of Venezuela, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica de Espana, Telintar of Argentina, and Trescom International of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The memorandum of understanding to build Americas II was signed in July, 1997. Construction of the system is expected to begin shortly.
AT&T Corp. is the world's premier communications and information services company, serving more than 90 million customers, including consumers, businesses and government. The company has annual revenues of more than $52 billion and 130,000 employees. Its runs the world's largest, most sophisticated communications network and is the leading provider of long-distance and wireless service. AT&T operates in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a leading provider of local-to-global communication services to business, government and residential users. The company's fast-growing portfolio of advanced data, Internet and IT services now accounts for nearly a quarter of MCI's $19.7 billion in annual revenue. MCI operates one of the world's largest and most advanced digital networks, connecting local markets in the U.S. to more than 280 countries and locations worldwide. MCI has agreed to merge with WorldCom, one of the world's fastest-growing communications companies. The merger, which is expected to be completed by mid-1998, will create MCI WorldCom, a company uniquely positioned in the U.S. local and long distance markets as well as the global data and Internet markets.
Sprint is a global communications company -- at the forefront in integrating long distance, local and wireless communications services and one of the world's largest carriers of Internet traffic. Sprint built and operates the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber optic network and is the leader in advanced data communications services. Sprint has $14 billion in annual revenues and serves more than 16 million business and residential customers.
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The DJ "news" take on it:
AT&T, MCI, Sprint - Americas II To Be Built By Sept. '99
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--An international consortium comprising AT&T Corp. (T), MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC), Sprint Corp. (FON), Brazil's Embratel and more than 30 other telecommunications carriers signed a construction and maintenance agreement to build the $375 million Americas II cable system.
In a press release Friday, AT&T, Sprint and MCI said Americas II is a a fiber optic undersea cable system that will span more than 8,000 kilometers and link the U.S. with the Caribbean and South America.
Tyco International Ltd.'s (TYC) submarine systems unit and Alcatel Alsthom's (ALA) submarine network systems unit will build Americas II, expected to be completed by September 1999.
The companies said the new system will have ten times the capacity of the present Americas I system, which went into service in September 1994.
Other investors in the cable system include Antelecom, the Netherlands; CanTV (VNT), Venezuela; France Telecom (FTE); Telecom Italia SpA (TI); Telefonica de Espana S.A. (TEF); Telintar, Argentina; and Trescom International Inc. (TRES), Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The companies signed a memo of understanding to build Americas II in July, 1997. Construction is expected to begin shortly. |
