EX-IM BANK BACKS $46 MILLION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SALE TO TRICOM
TRICOM of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is completing the purchase of $36 million of telecommunications equipment from U.S. exporters, primarily Motorola Inc., Arlington Heights, Ill., with financing from The International Bank of Miami, N.A. backed by a medium-term guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). TRICOM will use the credit to expand its telecommunications services to underserved areas in the Dominican Republic.
Ex-Im Bank is also making an additional $10 million in financing available under its internal delegated authority program to facilitate processing of medium-term guarantee and insurance transactions from TRICOM for additional supply purchases from U.S. exporters.
Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon said, This credit facility is going to help more Dominicans access basic telephone service, providing more economic opportunity and enhancing safety and quality of life in many communities.
TRICOM (www.tricom.net) is a leading integrated communications service provider in the Dominican Republic and a facilities-based long distance carrier in the United States. TRICOM's network is 100 percent digital and operates one of the world's largest CDMA-Wireless Local Loop (WiLL) networks, which permits local telephone service over wireless lines in a manner similar to cellular telephone service. Using WiLL, TRICOM can provide a customer with local telephone service within two days, instead of the usual 30 days using traditional copper telephone wires. The technology also permits the company to serve a greater portion of the population with less infrastructure investment than a wireless system.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal government agency that provides export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loans and loan guarantees to help finance exports of U.S. goods and services around the world, particularly to developing markets. In fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank supported nearly $17 billion of U.S. exports worldwide and more than $98 million in exports to the Caribbean and Central America.