Asia Global Crossing celebrated the Taiwan landing of its East Asia Crossing subsea cable system which, as part of the worldwide Global Crossing Network, will connect Taiwan to more than 200 major business centers in 27 countries. The landing of East Asia Crossing brings a competitive supply of international capacity to Taiwan, and quadruples the total amount of international capacity available.
The landing of East Asia Crossing in Taiwan is an important milestone in the development of the region's telecommunications infrastructure, one made possible by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' decision to allow foreign companies to land international fiber optic cables and lease bandwidth in Taiwan. Asia Global Crossing was the first company to receive such approval.
East Asia Crossing is a subsea fiber optic system that connects the fast-growing telecommunications markets of Asia -- Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are currently connected -- to each other and the rest of the world. Korea is scheduled to be connected in the third quarter of this year, Singapore in the fourth quarter, Malaysia and Philippines in the first half of 2002, and China as regulations permit. The system will have an initial capacity of 80 gigabits per second, and is upgradeable to 2.56 terabits.
East Asia Crossing connects to the United States through Pacific Crossing, Asia Global Crossing's sub-sea fiber optic system linking Japan to the United States. Through Pacific Crossing and the Global Crossing Network, Taiwan will enjoy city-to-city connectivity to major business centers in North America, South America, and Europe.
Asia Global Crossing Taiwan's initial offerings will consist of data communications services including International Private Line and IRU (Indefeasible Right of Use) of international bandwidth. Asia Global Crossing Taiwan is carrier neutral and provides capacity to end customers through the four FTNS license holders in Taiwan. At a later date, Asia Global Crossing Taiwan will also provide IP Transit, IP VPN, ATM, and Frame Relay services.
In keeping with its city-to-city product strategy, Asia Global Crossing partners with leading companies in each country it connects to establish a terrestrial network. Asia Global Crossing Taiwan is a 60:40 joint venture between Asia Global Crossing and Microelectronics Technology Inc. (MTI), created to develop an international telecommunications infrastructure in Taiwan. Asia Global Crossing Taiwan manages this backhaul network from the East Asia Crossing cable landing station into Taipei.
About Microelectronics Technology Inc.:
MTI designs, manufactures and supplies microwave integrated circuit products used for satellite broadcasting, communications, and telecommunications.
About Asia Global Crossing:
Asia Global Crossing (NYSE: AX) provides the Asia Pacific region with integrated telecommunications and IP services. Through a combination of undersea cables, terrestrial networks, city fiber rings and complex web hosting data centers, Asia Global Crossing is building a pan-Asian network, which, in combination with the worldwide Global Crossing Network, will provide the Asia Pacific region with seamless access to major business centers worldwide. For more information, visit www.asiaglobalcrossing.com.