Hitachi Accelerates Global Crossing's North American Crossing Network At 10 Gigabits Per Second; First Coast-To-Coast High Speed Network Layer is in Commercial Service - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Oct 25, 1999

Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., Tuesday announced that its AMN 5192 10 Gb/s (OC-192) SONET equipment is in commercial service as part of an ongoing major network enhancement by Global Crossing Ltd. (NASDAQ: GBLX), which is building and operating the world's most advanced global IP-based fiber optic network. Global Crossing has been aggressively adding bandwidth to its North American Crossing network this year and confirmed that live traffic is now being carried at 10 Gb/s rates on the first coast-to-coast network layer.

"One year ago, our network consisted of OC-48 (2.5 Gb/s) rings. By the end of this year, we will have added multiple OC-192 (10 Gb/s) layers of four-fiber survivable rings," stated Russ Shipley, vice president of network services for Global Crossing North America. "The North American Crossing network offers an ideal combination of virtually unlimited bandwidth and the extreme reliability that our customers have come to expect."

Global Crossing's network expansion is supported by Hitachi's AMN 5192 SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) 4-fiber BLSR (bi-directional line switched ring) equipment. The Hitachi equipment provides the 10 Gb/s fiber optic "pipeline" that carries the traffic on the North American Crossing network. "Hitachi's technical staff have been instrumental in maintaining our aggressive installation schedule, and the company has proven to be a valuable technology partner," stated Global Crossing's Shipley.

"We have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Global Crossing and their other network suppliers during the installation and turn-up phase of the first OC-192 network layer," stated George Cagle, Hitachi vice president, engineering. "We look forward to continuing business with Global Crossing into the next millennium as they continue to expand their next-generation North American Crossing network."

Connecting more than 120 metropolitan areas around the nation, the North American Crossing network uses the most advanced fiber optics with DWDM. This futureproof design creates "liquid bandwidth," a scalable architecture that gives the network virtually unlimited capacity and positions Global Crossing to meet customers' applications needs today and well into the future.

In 1999, Global Crossing began adding a "network express lane" based on OC-192 and DWDM technology. By incorporating OC-192 into its backbone, Global Crossing can increase its network capacity in large increments, while retaining the highest degrees of survivability and reliability through the 4-fiber BLSR protection capability. Through DWDM, the total network capacity is scalable to 1.28 terabits (trillions of bits) per second on a single fiber strand.

Hitachi's next generation AMN 5192 transport system is designed to address a full range of applications from long haul transmission to metropolitan rings. The system supports growth from 10 Gbps and beyond through Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. Hitachi's products are managed by a common element management system, streamlining the support issues in the increasingly complex network. The four-fiber bi-directional line switched ring configuration provides protection against transport network outages due to a fiber cut or failure at one node. In the event of such a failure, traffic is automatically reversed in direction around the ring within milliseconds. Four-fiber BLSR is generally favored over two-fiber BLSR because of its relative higher capacity and increased reliability offered by the larger number of fibers.

Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GBLX) owns and operates a state-of-the-art fiber optic network in the United States and is developing and operating the world's first truly global IP-based fiber optic network with 88,100 announced route miles, connecting five continents, 24 countries and 170 cities. The Global Crossing Network and its product offerings will be available to over 80% of the world's international communications traffic. Through its subsidiary Global Marine, Global Crossing also owns the largest fleet of cable laying and maintenance vessels in the world and currently services more than a third of the world's undersea cable miles. Global Crossing is included in both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100. Global Crossing's operations are headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with executive offices in Los Angeles, California, Morristown, New Jersey, and Rochester, New York. For more information, visit www.globalcrossing.com.

Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., develops, manufactures and markets telecommunications equipment for the U.S. market. The company offers ultra high speed optical networking equipment such as SONET and DWDM systems, as well as customer premises products such as PBXs. For more information on Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., please visit the company's website at www.hitel.com.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, consumer electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information on Hitachi America, visit http://www.hitachi.com.