Under the terms of several agreements, GCN will interconnect its voice and data traffic services arriving from the Caribbean to Global Crossing's IP network in St. Croix, via 10-Gigabit wavelengths, enabling GCN to extend its services to North America, Europe and Asia. Primarily based in the Caribbean, GCN's customers will now gain access to Global Crossing's state-of-the-art global network, so that they can connect to any of the 600 cities in 60 countries where Global Crossing delivers services.

At the same time, through the interconnection with GCN, Global Crossing will now be able to offer its own customers services in 13 additional countries in the Caribbean.

"Global Crossing's services support our plans to offer Caribbean residential and commercial users a more advanced telecom infrastructure," announced Ehsan Emami, GCN's president. "Our customers will benefit from a fast and reliable network, where all data, voice, video and multimedia traffic can converge to a single global backbone."

"We're excited about this opportunity to work with GCN as it begins to offer local and international operators broadband services in the Caribbean region," added Jose Antonio Rios, Global Crossing's international president. "Our combined capabilities reinforce our commitment to accelerate deployment of our services to the region."

GCN began offering its commercial services in the Caribbean in October 2006 through the official launch of the first phase of its GCN-1 system, which connects Guadeloupe, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, San Juan and St. Croix. It is currently expanding its reach further south in the Caribbean to Dominica, Martinique, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad as part of the second and third phases of the project, in 2007.

According to a 2006 Telecommunications Industry Review study, the Caribbean is one of the fastest growing broadband markets in the world. To accommodate this rapidly expanding demand in Latin America and the Caribbean region, Global Crossing recently announced that it will upgrade its Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC) system, which connects North America to Latin America through the Caribbean. Global Crossing's MAC ring, which runs between Brookhaven, NY; Hollywood, FL; and St. Croix, Virgin Islands, is an essential piece of the company's advanced, global network.

"Global Crossing is committed to the Caribbean region and is uniquely positioned to serve companies like GCN, that require global connectivity," commented Dale Miller, Global Crossing's senior vice president for carrier sales in Latin America. "By choosing Global Crossing, GCN has improved its network functionality, enhanced its flexibility and expanded its reach around the world."