Unisource NV the European telecoms venture backed by AT&T Corp, has invested $100m in a new transatlantic fiber optic cable, the Atlantic Crossing cable, AC-1. The cable is being built and managed by Bermuda-based undersea cable company Global Crossing Ltd. The cable, which will be completed in May 1998, goes into direct competition with WorldCom Inc’s transatlantic cable Gemini and its European fiber optic network, set to begin carrying traffic from February 1998. The AC-1 cable will link into the Unisource fiber network in Europe, via a PTT Telecom landing station in Beverwijk, giving the Netherlands and Germany a direct connection to the US. Further European access to Italy will be possible if Telecom Italia joins Unisource, but Spain is going to remain closed, as Telefonica de Espana has just dropped out of Unisource (CI No 3,312). Global Crossing Ltd, is owned by a group of investors, headed by the Pacific Capital Group Inc, and is also building two other undersea cables, the Pacific American crossing-1, a cable linking California to Mexico and Central America, due for service in 1999, and the mid Atlantic crossing, linking New York to the Caribbean. Unisource is joint-owned by its investors Swiss Telecom, Koninklijke PTT Netherland NV and Swedish telco Telia AB, and has links with the AT&T sponsored WorldPartners group, through its joint venture AT&T Unisource Communications Services.
