a key segment of its undersea network in Latin America between Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Completed on time and on budget, according to the company, the 3,250-kilometre segment is scheduled to enter commercial service in early May, via Bermuda.

360americas now connects the United States, Brazil, Venezuela and Bermuda, and will reach Sao Paulo this quarter and Buenos Aires in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said.

360americas -- the first fibre optic cable to provide high-speed connectivity between North America and South America -- will have a total system capacity of 1.36 terabits per second and span 29,000 kilometres by early 2002.

"We will soon bring broadband communications to Brazil and provide major customers such as France Telecom/Intelig, Bell Canada/Teleglobe and OptiGlobe with network services between the Americas,'' said Scott Lyons, vice-president of submarine systems at 360networks.

"This milestone is further evidence of our ability to execute on time and on budget. It is also a significant step to providing seamless connectivity between more than 100 major cities on four continents by mid-2002.''