Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and Japan's Marubeni Corp. formed a joint venture to build a fibre-optic network for Japan.

The venture, called Global Access Ltd., will be 49-percent owned by Global Crossing, while Marubeni will have a 51 percent stake.

The venture will build a 1,200-route-kilometre network connecting Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, and link the cities to the cable stations of Pacific Crossing, which will connect them to the US, Europe and Latin America, Global Crossing said. The three cities account for more than 90 percent of Japan's international telecommunications traffic, the company said.

Construction on the $110 million project began in September and network operation is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2000, Global Crossing said.

Marubeni, based Tokyo, is a trading company with operations in metals, minerals, textiles, machinery, food, chemicals, construction materials and commodities markets.