The race to link the world through fibre optic cable could bring up to 40 jobs to Bermuda and see the rejuvenation of St. David's after TeleBermuda and GlobeNet officially announced a second billion dollar venture.

Bermuda is already at the heart of Atlantica 1, a $950 million project which will link the US with South America.

Now the campaign to raise a further billion dollars has been launched for Atlantica 2, a trans-Atlantic loop which will land across Europe.

"I cannot speculate on exactly how many jobs this will bring to the Island,'' said Jerry De Martino, the chief executive officer of Globe net. "But three years ago, the company employed only three people. It now employs 41 people, 36 of whom are Bermudian. And we are hoping for similar growth.'' The new venture has also seen TeleBermuda taking over a third building in St.

David's, and could re-develop more of the old base if the business continues to expand.'' James Fitzgerald , general manager and senior vice president of TeleBermuda said: "This is very positive for Bermuda. It will mean a further reduction in the cost of telecommunications which will only get better for Bermudians. It will also take Bermuda into the front line of the industry.'' Atlantica 1 will connect five countries with eight landing sites on Bermuda, and if any link is broken for whatever reason, then the calls can be diverted through another link through Bermuda.

The cables actually come out of the sea and land at St. David's where calls are connected from around the world.

The service, which will connect Miami, Altanta, Boston, Washington DC, New York, Caracas, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, should be up and running in the year 2000, and completed early in 2001.

The second stage Atlantica 2 will connect these cities, through Bermuda, with Spain, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom.

In Bermuda GlobeNet's headquarters will provide a service for telecommunications carriers to set up e-commerce activities and lower cost telephone lines.

Terry Lister attended the official launch at the Southampton Princes Hotel and welcomed the new expansion of business.

"It will take Bermuda into the 21st century and gives us an upper hand in the world of e-commerce. The outlook is very positive for Bermuda.

"The cost of long distance calls have dropped 50 percent and will continue to fall. And the companies have taken on a third building in St. David's.''