SCIENCE

Global Crossing has announced it has established a Point of Presence (PoP) in Istanbul to provide multinational enterprises in the region with extended global network service.  The PoP is colocated in Pantel's data center.  Pantel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turk Telekom, is a leading provider of international telecommunications services across Central Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, and the Caucasus region.

The new service will connect Global Crossing's customers around the globe to Turkey, with Global Crossing's reliable, fully redundant and scalable global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network providing Ethernet and Fast Ethernet private line services.  Customers will also have access to Global Crossing EtherSphere services and Global Crossing Converged IP Services, including Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) service and Dedicated Internet Access (DIA).

"As the needs of today's global businesses continue to evolve, our customers are demanding more flexible and efficient high-performance network solutions," said Ted Higase, managing director, Global Crossing UK and EMEA.  "We are delighted to be able to offer our customers high-quality, highly reliable access to the important business center of Istanbul."

"We are always looking for ways to add value to our partners and bring them closer to their customers.  Hosting Global Crossing's PoP gives their customers a local presence, for global connectivity," said Gregg Betz, CEO of Pantel.  "With the ever-increasing demand among enterprises for multinational broadband services, we are pleased to be partnering with Global Crossing."

Ethernet private lines are part of Global Crossing's complete portfolio of worldwide Ethernet services.  The company's EtherSphere family of services delivers worldwide Ethernet-based wide area network solutions.  EtherSphere's virtual private LAN services (VPLS) provide the flexibility enterprises need to decrease network management costs, provide diversity, and improve connectivity among geographically dispersed locations.  EtherSphere provides economies of scale to support converged services on a single connection.

Global Crossing's IP VPN service provides one of the highest performing and most versatile network solutions currently available, delivering true global reach, scalable connectivity, greater security, guaranteed quality of service, multiple access options and flexible billing options.  Global Crossing's services are backed by comprehensive Service Level Agreements (SLAs) covering the overall performance of the service, and on-line access to real-time and historical service-performance reports.