Metromedia Fiber Networks and Racal Telecom form joint venture

Metromedia Fiber Networks and Racal Telecom form joint venture

Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (MFN; New York, NY) and Racal Telecom (Bracknell, England) have formed a joint venture to provide broadband transatlantic communications services to their respective customers. MFN will offer seamless, building-to-building connectivity, high-bandwidth capacity at wholesale prices, and bulk traffic capacity and services to the transatlantic market. The initial service offering, available in April 1998, will include fiberoptic, international leased lines with capacities from 2 to 45 Mbit/s. Later in the year the portfolio will expand to include transatlantic local-area-network interconnection and services such as international video conferencing, secure voice recording, and asynchronous-transfer-mode-derived switching services. The transatlantic telecommunications market is estimated to be about $1 billion/year.