Cable & Wireless Plc duly agreed to sell the US end of its PTAT-1 transatlantic fibre-optic cable system to US Sprint Communications Inc in a major extension to its ambitions to girdle the globe with a fibre optic highway. US Sprint is a particularly attractive partner because its US long-distance network is now all fibre optic. The new joint venture company being formed to market services on the network is reportedly to be called Global Fon, for Fibre Optic Network, and as part of the agreement, US Sprint will buy Wash ington-based Private Transatlantic Telecommunications Systems Inc, which has 50% of the cable. Among the early services will be an int ernational virtual private network based on US Sprint’s existing serv ice, and a Global Foncard based on US Sprint’s Foncard travel service.
