Global Crossing Press Release: Global Crossing Connects Latin American & European Research Communities

Press Release

ALICE project will create RedCLARA network in Latin America.
RedCLARA to be connected to GÉANT network in Europe.
Ushers in unprecedented levels of collaborative working for regional researchers.
Underlines Global Crossing’s lead in providing global connectivity to R&E community.

London, UK, 5 August 2004 -- Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBCE) is to provide a high-capacity network that will interconnect the research and educational (R&E) community in Latin America and open the way for unprecedented levels of collaboration with colleagues and institutions in Europe.

América Latina Interconectada Con Europa (ALICE) is a three-year project jointly funded by the European Union and the national research and educational networks (NRENs) of 18 Latin American countries. Under a contract awarded by the Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe (DANTE), Global Crossing will leverage its substantial regional infrastructure and transatlantic cable system to create RedCLARA. This IP backbone will connect universities and research facilities in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Panama, Mexico and Venezuela -- while also providing direct, high-speed connectivity to GÉANT, the pan-European research and education backbone network operated by DANTE.

The ALICE project was born out of studies carried out in 2002 to investigate the feasibility of connecting Latin American national research and education networks (LA-NRENs) via a regional network and to analyse the underlying demand for connectivity with Europe.

Creation of the RedCLARA network represents a significant move toward the development of an IP-based research infrastructure in the region. It will accelerate the development of the information society in Latin America and provide the means for full collaboration on advanced international research projects. Today, most universities in the region rely on 45-Mbps links into Miami for connectivity to research networks in other parts of the world.

RedCLARA will operate initially at 155 Mbps and will be interconnected to GÉANT, the world’s largest international academic and research network. GÉANT reaches more than 3,500 research and education institutions in 32 European countries through its direct connection to 28 NRENs around Europe. It provides the highest capacity and offers the greatest geographic coverage of any network of its kind in the world, enabling researchers to compete on an international stage. At the end of the ALICE project, the Latin American Co-operation of Advanced Networks (CLARA) is expected to assume responsibility for the operation of the intra-regional network and its direct continuous connection to GÉANT.

John Legere, CEO of Global Crossing, said: “This network will overcome wide discrepancies in the cost of connectivity within Latin America and will end the international isolation of research institutions caused by the high traffic thresholds currently necessary to justify international connectivity. Global Crossing’s global network will make broadband collaboration affordable.” DANTE’s general manager, Dai Davies, said: “For the first time, Latin American countries will have high-speed networking to conduct effective research collaboration both within the region and with their European counterparts. ALICE has been instrumental in acting as a catalyst for the future development of research networking in the region via the CLARA organisation. The prospect of acquiring dedicated international access to the global R&E community has spurred many countries in the region to focus on the development of their NRENs.”

The first fruits of the ALICE project will be realized shortly with the successful connection of six LA-NRENs. The project’s significant contribution to the region’s development will continue with the addition of further connections to other countries soon afterwards. At present, the four participating European NRENs include France (RENATER), Italy (INFN/GARR), Portugal (FCCN) and Spain (RedIRIS), all of which have close historical and social ties with Latin America.

"With the implementation of the ALICE project, we are taking an important step in research and education integration in the region," said Nelson Simões, president of CLARA. "High performance research networks are becoming an essential support for modern research and development."

Global Crossing will connect the Latin American network to GÉANT via a 622-Mbps diverse transatlantic link between Madrid and São Paulo, Brazil. Within Latin America, Global Crossing capacity will be used to create a backbone ring operating at 155 Mbps and linking São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Tijuana and Panama City. Caracas in Venezuela will be connected to RedCLARA via a 45-Mbps spur connected to the São Paulo hub. The resilience of the service will be assured by the use of self-healing SDH transmission technology for the backbone ring and transatlantic link.

The European Commission supports ALICE and is providing 80 percent of funding for the project. ALICE underpins the Commission’s @LIS programme, which aims to promote the information society and fight the digital divide throughout Latin America.

Global Crossing is an existing network provider to DANTE in the form of a 2.5-Gbps wavelength between Dublin and Frankfurt, together with a multi-gigabit IP Transit Service. In Latin America, Global Crossing currently supports the international connections of the NRENs of Argentina (RETINA), Brazil (RNP), Chile (REUNA), Panama (RedCyT) and Venezuela (REACCIUN) as well as the state network of São Paulo, which is operated by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP).

ABOUT DANTE:
DANTE's name derives from the acronym Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe. Owned by European NRENs, it is an organisation whose purpose is to plan, build and operate pan-European networks for research and education. Working in partnership with Europe's NRENs and in cooperation with the European Commission, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of European research and education networking over the last decade, providing the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe today.

ABOUT CLARA:
CLARA's name derives from the acronym Cooperación Latino Americana de Redes Avanzadas -- Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks. CLARA was created by a number of Latin American NRENs in 2003, and registered in Uruguay as a non-profit international organization. Currently, CLARA members include NRENs from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The objectives of CLARA are to promote cooperation in educational, scientific and cultural activities within the Latin American and Caribbean region through the use of advanced communication networks (the CLARA network), and also to encourage inter-regional collaboration by building network links between the CLARA network and research and education networks in other regions of the world, beginning with Europe.

ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING:
Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBCE) provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities and 30 countries worldwide, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 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 more than 40 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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CONTACT GLOBAL CROSSING:

Press Contacts
Becky Yeamans
+ 1 973-937-0155
PR@globalcrossing.com

Mish Desmidt
Europe
+ 44 (0) 1256 732 866
EuropePR@globalcrossing.com

Fernanda Marques
+ 55 21-3820-4712
LatAmPR@globalcrossing.com

Analysts/Investors Contact
Mitch Burd
+ 1 800-836-0342
glbc@globalcrossing.com

CONTACT DANTE:

Simon Watts
press@dante.org.uk
+44 1223 371 300

More information from:

http://alice.dante.net
http://europa.eu.int/alis
http://www.alis-online.org/