NEW YORK, May 24 -- Expanding on an existing agreement, Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (MFN) and Bechtel Corp. have reached a new contract for what is being hailed as the world's largest fiber-optic infrastructure project. The agreement stipulates that Bechtel provide construction services and program- and construction-management for MFN's future optical networks. MFN plans to build these networks throughout cities in North America and Europe. According to MFN, the agreement is part of an ongoing strategy to be the world's largest fiber-optic infrastructure provider by 2004. Under the agreement MFN hopes to provide 3.6-million fiber-miles of Internet backbone and local optical networks to customers in 67 markets; make the engineering processes more efficient and control network quality at a low-cost by using a single point-of-contact for its infrastructure projects. Bechtel will provide the resources and management to reduce MFN's time to market. Our agreement with Bechtel will ensure that our planned optical Internet infrastructure throughout North America and Europe is delivered to customers on-time and with the highest quality, said Nick Tanzi, president and CEO of MFN.