TELECOMMUNICATIONS

AT&T; Corp. Wins Undersea Cable Contract: The company said it was awarded the $1.2-billion job of laying the world’s longest undersea fiber-optic communications system, which 40 telecommunications carriers have signed up to use. Gabriel Yackanich, president and chief executive of Fiberoptic Link Around the Globe, said it will be the first privately financed cable system that “permits carriers to purchase capacity at true market rates.” The 17,000 miles of cable will reach from Britain to Japan, with “landing points” in Spain, Italy, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong.