Global Crossing to Extend Core Network to Costa Rica
San José, Costa Rica - May 4, 2006 -- At a signing ceremony today hosted by Costa
Rica's Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state-run entity responsible
for the nation's telecommunications, and the national Internet Service Provider
Radiográfica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA), Global Crossing announced plans to extend
its core network to Costa Rica. Through the extension of Global Crossing's Pan American
Crossing (PAC) system, which runs along the west coast of Central America from Panama
to Los Angeles, at the Unquí cable landing point in Esterillos, Costa Rica will
gain direct access to the world's premier global IP network, which delivers services
in more than 600 cities in 60 countries. The project requires additional governmental
approval, and construction is expected to be complete as early as fourth quarter
2007.
As part of the cable landing agreement, Global Crossing also announced that it will
donate an STM1 to the Costa Rican academic sector, the largest donation of its kind
in the history of the country. Following a signing ceremony for the landing agreement,
ICE and its Internet arm, RACSA, immediately announced that they will purchase 24
STM-1 Private Lines, the equivalent of 3.732 Gbps of bandwidth, from Global Crossing.
One STM-1 is equivalent to 155.52 Mbps of bandwidth.
"Latin America continues to be an integral part of our global strategy, and we're
building on our successes in this region by extending our core network to Costa
Rica," commented John Legere, CEO of Global Crossing. "This agreement provides ICE/RACSA
with a robust solution for worldwide connectivity from the Pacific coast, and enables
the delivery of seamless, premier IP solutions to Costa Rican based businesses and
end users taking advantage of all the benefits of world-class Global Crossing network."
Industry analyst firm Yankee Group's 2005 Latin American Carrier Scorecard noted
that roughly 30 percent of enterprise survey respondents in the U.S. and Canada
plan to increase network capacity to Central or South America and that carriers
striving for global positioning must strategically address this region. In the same
report, the Yankee Group gave Global Crossing excellent scores for customer focus
as well as a positive grade for its services portfolio in the region.
"Through its localized presence and global reach capabilities, Global Crossing is
uniquely positioned to serve both 'multi-latinas' and multinationals requiring converged
IP services on a pan-regional scale," commented Erica Fox, Yankee Group's director
of global telecom and wireless services. "Thirty-two percent of Latin American MNCs
are planning to implement or increase their network capabilities in the next 12
months, and the vast majority of them will look for IP solutions."
The analyst firm's assessment aligns with the explosive demand growth for converged
IP services that Global Crossing is seeing around the globe as well as in Latin
America. In 2005, the number of Global Crossing's converged IP customers tripled,
while IP VPN traffic grew more than 300 percent. The number of Global Crossing's
IP customers in Latin America grew by 80 percent in 2005.
Global Crossing has significant presence in Latin America and the Caribbean with
offices and operational facilities in 12 of the region's major cities. Through its
sub-sea and terrestrial cable systems, Global Crossing seamlessly connects South
America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to the rest of its global network,
delivering services to customers around the world. Costa Rica will be connected
to the PAC system, which currently lands in Balboa, Panama, and Mazatlan and Tijuana,
Mexico. With its regional network officially completed in 2001, Global Crossing
now serves virtually all of Latin America's major carriers as well as many prestigious
Latin American companies, research and educational networks, and global companies
operating in the region. Such customers include Latin America's largest construction
and engineering firm Odebrecht, Mexicana Airlines and Banco Santander International.
Also in direct response to rapid growth of customer demand, Global Crossing recently
announced it will be making upgrades to its Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC) system,
which connects North America to Latin America through the Caribbean.
"We are committed to providing quality telecommunications and IP services that will
give Costa Rica's residents and business community the competitive edge we need
in the world economy. As our strategic partner, Global Crossing will provide that
edge via its state-of-the-art global network and advanced product portfolio," commented
Pablo Cob, president of ICE. "We expect the direct national connection of Global
Crossing's global network to enhance Costa Rica's position as a premier location
for manufacturing facilities and contact centers of multinational corporations."
Today's announcement was celebrated not only by the ceremony's hosts, ICE and RACSA,
but also by the business community, including several global corporations which
have manufacturing plants, contact centers and other operations in the country and
are demanding first rate, IP broadband connections. The improved Internet structure
is expected to bring increased direct investment to Costa Rica within a year of
implementation.
"This agreement is the culmination of an ongoing, cooperative effort between ICE,
RACSA and Global Crossing, and is a tremendous accomplishment for all involved,"
concluded José Antonio Ríos, Global Crossing's CAO and international president,
who attended the signing ceremony. "We look forward to playing a key role in advancing
Costa Rica's economic goal of becoming an ideal business partner."
ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's
first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300
major cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 600
cities, 60 countries and 6 continents around the globe. The company's global sales
and support model matches the network footprint and, like the network, delivers
a consistent customer experience worldwide.
Global Crossing IP services are global in scale, linking the world's enterprises,
governments and carriers with customers, employees and partners worldwide in a secure
environment that is ideally suited for IP-based business applications, allowing
e-commerce to thrive. The company offers a full range of managed data and voice
products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services
and Global Crossing VoIP services, to 36 percent of the Fortune 500, as well as
700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs.
Please visit www.globalcrossing.com for more information about Global Crossing.
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Statements in this press release about expected future events and financial results
are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the
actual results to differ materially, including risks referenced from time to time
in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company
undertakes no duty to update information contained in this press release or in other
public disclosures at any time.