Fujitsu and Pacific Crossing Announce Successful Upgrade of Trans-Pacific Fiber Optic Network

Tokyo, March 19, 2008

Fujitsu Limited and Pacific Crossing Limited today announced the successful completion of an upgrade project that more than doubles the capacity of the 21,000-kilometer PC-1 trans-Pacific fiber optic submarine cable network (see Figure 1).

The project, which began in September 2007, involved the successful installation of Fujitsu's FLASHWAVE S650 submarine wavelength divisional multiplexer equipment (see Figure 2) in Pacific Crossing's cable landing stations, and the upgrade of the overall capacity to 1.98Tbps, of which 1.01Tbps is available on the two Trans-Pacific segments. The six-month contract was completed without any disruption to existing network traffic.

"The growing popularity of high-bandwidth Internet applications such as video and other forms of multimedia, interactive services, is driving bandwidth consumption on a global scale, and in particular, across the Pacific due to the growing economic importance of Asia," said Mark Simpson, CEO, Pacific Crossing. "The Fujitsu platform, combined with our industry-leading performance, network reliability and flexible subscription options, now offers our customers an unmatched solution across the vast Pacific Ocean."

The Fujitsu FLASHWAVE S650, also referred to as SLTE (Submarine Line Terminal Equipment), now brings dramatically enhanced flexibility and performance management features to Pacific Crossing's infrastructure, ensuring the highest service quality and reliability for its customers.

"Fujitsu develops high-performance, innovative solutions that are designed to extend the capabilities of our operator partners," said Dr. Terumi Chikama, Corporate Senior Vice President, Fujitsu Limited. "The Fujitsu FLASHWAVE S650 now enables Pacific Crossing to support dramatically higher bandwidth requirements while maintaining its industry leading performance across the Pacific."

PC-1 Network Overview

Pacific Crossing's 21,000-kilometer PC-1 Trans-Pacific fiber optic submarine cable network links the US and Japan. The system comprises of four segments, each containing four fiber pairs. The four segments—West, North, East and South—connect together cable landing stations at Shima, Mie Prefecture; Ajigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture; Harbour Pointe, Washington; and Grover Beach, California. Following the current upgrade, the North and South segments now offer a total of 1.01Tbps of capacity between the US and Japan. The ring system supports for linear and fully-protected services in bandwidth increments started from STM-1 to 10GbE as well as wave-level subscriptions.