MIAMI, Fla. -- AT&T Latin America Corp. (Nasdaq: ATTL), a facilities-based provider of integrated high-bandwidth business communications services and operations in five Latin American countries, signed agreements for $298 million in senior secured financing with its strategic vendors Cisco Systems Inc., Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks. Interim bridge notes issued by AT&T Latin America for approximately $70 million of equipment purchases previously made from the vendors will be rolled into the long term vendor credit facility on the effective date, scheduled for first quarter 2002. The effective date is subject to certain customary conditions including implementation of the collateral package. "This vendor financing represents a key element of ATTL's capital plan. We are extremely pleased to be enhancing our already close working partnership with our strategic vendors, and for their continued support of ATTL," said Patricio E. Northland, president and CEO of AT&T Latin America. "The vendor financing provides ATTL with additional capital to consolidate its existing foothold in Latin America and capture a greater share of our addressable market by extending our state-of-the-art private IP/ATM network in the region's major business centers."AT&T Latin America Corp.