Williams Communications carries traffic between the United States and Japan

Williams Communications (NYSE: WCG), a broadband provider for bandwidth-centric customers, announced it will begin providing network services to and from financial markets across the Japan-U.S. Undersea Cable Network.

This is a major step in implementing Williams Communications' local-to-global network strategy. The company is aggressively executing its plan to be a single-source provider for the efficient delivery of end-to-end network services on a global scale. By leveraging its domestic backbone assets, the company has rapidly forged a significant presence in Asia.

The 21,000-kilometer Japan-U.S. Network is capable of handling circuit-switched or packet-switched communications. It operates at 80 gigabits per second, which equates to the full contents of 123 CD-ROMs each second. The cable is currently being expanded to 400 gigabits per second, or the full contents of 615 CD-ROMs every second. The cable will also facilitate interconnection to other existing and future cable facilities throughout the region.

Japan-U.S. landing points include U.S.-based stations in Manchester and Morro Bay, Calif. and Makaha, Hawaii; Shima South (Mie Prefecture), Maruyama (Chiba Prefecture) and Kitaibaraki (Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan.

Williams Communication was granted a Type I facilities-based operators license in February, allowing the company to establish a base of operations in Japan and transport traffic from Japan to its U.S. backbone in a full-circuit configuration via an undersea fiber-optic cable linking the two countries. A Tokyo office was opened earlier this year.

About Williams Communications Group, Inc.:

Based in Tulsa, Okla., Williams Communications Group, Inc., is a broadband network services provider focused on the needs of bandwidth-centric customers. For more information, visit www.williamscommunications.com.