American firm MFS Communications Co., proves there is a big demand for more telecommunications links between North America and Europe, TeleBermuda International Ltd.'s chief said yesterday.

C&W and MFS announced on Monday they will jointly build a highly sophisticated $500 million transatlantic telecommunications cable.

"This proves that the need for additional transatlantic systems,'' said Michael Kedar, chairman of TeleBermuda, which is planning a cable from Bermuda to the US.

"Our plan all along has been to extend the BUS-1 (Bermuda/US-1 cable) to the UK,'' he said. "The most important thing -- there is that much more justification for building more cables.'' Mr. Kedar added that TeleBermuda, which has yet to receive permission from the Federal Communications Commission to land its cable in the US, is proposing to make Bermuda a telecommunications hub while under the C&W plan, Bermuda will be at the end of a spur.

TeleBermuda is the company given a conditional licence by Government to become Bermuda's second international telecommunications carrier, breaking the monopoly enjoyed by C&W Bermuda.

"We believe, that dependent on the construction of the CANUS spur to Bermuda, this new C&W/MFS cable would provide significant opportunities for the advancement of Bermuda's international telecommunications,'' C&W Bermuda said.

The transatlantic C&W/MFS cable, when added to its existing services, will "absorb (Bermuda's) demand for the foreseeable future. Opportunities like this do not occur often'', C&W Bermuda said.

"The new system would be the most cost effective and resilient cable system in the Atlantic. Bermuda needs that access to North America and Europe for voice, data and Internet/Intranet services.'' C&W Bermuda has been waiting for two years for a response on whether or not it can build its spur to CANUS-1. It also is attempting to get approval to become an Internet service provider to compete with Internet Bermuda Ltd.

The proposed spur would connect the Island not only to the C&W/MFS cable at the US end but also to the world's longest submarine fibre optic cable, FLAG (fibre optic link around the globe), at the Europe end. C&W is a major participant in FLAG, which is a Bermuda-based company.

Mr. Kedar said that the TeleBermuda cable would result in just as much connectivity. The C&W/MFS cable's UK landing points will be at Porthcurno and Brean -- UK landing sites for the FLAG and C&W's PTAT cables, respectively.

Bermuda is currently connected to C&W's North America and Europe PTAT cable via a PTAT spur.

C&W said the cable is being build to meet the "explosive'' demand for broadband services such as multi-media and Internet/Intranet as well as traditional voice and data communications services.'' Omaha-based MFS, which has agreed to be bought by Mississippi-based WorldCom Inc., will operate the US end of the cable which will be laid by Alcatel Submarine Networks, a unit of French telecommunications company Alcatel Alsthom SA.