Racal Electronic Plc’s Racal Telecommunications Inc has global ambitions, and has entered into a joint venture with New York- based MetroMedia Fiber Network Inc. The new venture company will operate as an independent business unit, providing managed transatlantic network services. The company will be 50% owned by Racal and 50% owned by MetroMedia, the investments being used to procure bulk bandwidth across the Atlantic and to establish operations in London and New York. The alliance forms the first stage of Racal’s plans to expand its international presence into the US and across Europe. It intends to provide its existing business customers in the UK with a more effective means of communicating with their offices in the US, and will take point- to-point capacity from one or more of the emerging submarine cable systems running from the US East Coast to Cornwall in the UK. By entering into the agreement with MetroMedia, Racal has put itself in a position to act as the UK hub for transit between the US and mainland Europe. Services will be available from next spring.
