agreements with Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT) providing fiber optic connections between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the United States; Lima, Peru, and the United States; and Caracas, Venezuela, and the United States.

The total value of the agreements is in excess of $30 million.

"We are extremely pleased to expand our already strong relationship with Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications and its Comsat International subsidiaries,'' said Jose Antonio Rios, Global Crossing's president for Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Together, our companies are creating exciting new opportunities for customers in the region through enhanced service offerings and the unprecedented reach of the Global Crossing network.'' Under terms of the new agreements, LMGT significantly increases its fibre connectivity for the South American continent. Additionally, LMGT and Global Crossing will provide each other with expanded routing options in Argentina and will establish connections between each other's points of presence in the Buenos Aires area.

Global Crossing will also have use of operating space in LMGT's COMSAT Argentina data network facility located in Wilde, Argentina.

In Latin America, Global Crossing is now fully operational in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The company expects to commence services in Peru and Venezuela in the second quarter of this year, and has applied for a license to operate in Colombia.