France Telecom, in Paris, and Telmex Mexico have announced plans for the development of a submarine cable that will link South America, Central America, North America, and countries in the western Caribbean. The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy network, dubbed "Maya," will operate at 3 ¥ 2.5 Gbits/sec and is expected to be completed by mid-1999. It will land in Vero Beach, FL; Cancun, Mexico; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; the Cayman Islands; Colon, Panama; and Barranquilla, Colombia.