MCI WorldCom Announces Plans For National Networks In France, Germany And Great Britain
Builds on unique assets and success to bring new level of
competition to 60% of European market for telecommunications
New key European destinations for MCI WorldCom On-Net
Customers
London, 6th October Month 1998 -
MCI WorldCom announced today that it is more than doubling the
size of its pan-European fiber optic network to provide national
coverage in Great Britain, France and Germany. This 7,150 kilometer
(4,290 mile) expansion of its existing 3,200 kilometer (2,000 mile)
European backbone will bring the benefits of its portfolio of
on-net local-to-global-to-local telecommunications services
currently available in London, Paris and Frankfurt to customers
throughout Britain, France and Germany. Network coverage and
product availability will be rolled out through 1999.
By the end of, MCI WorldCom will be able to offer a
complete local, long distance and international phone service to
any customer connected to the public switched network in all three
countries and high-speed long distance, private line and data
communications services to businesses in 45 European metropolitan
areas. The international portfolio of all these services will
leverage MCI WorldCom's unique end-to-end owned and managed
global fiber optic network linking Europe to the Americas and
Asia-Pacific region to offer world-class quality and value.
"We have proved our ability to meet customer demand for
quality and value in Europe's international telecommunications
market. We have also evolved our national businesses from simple
resale outfits into fully licensed facilities-based operators
complete with metropolitan, international, and sub-oceanic cable
systems," said Liam Strong, president and chief executive
officer of MCI WorldCom International. "We are now scaling up
to address the local and national opportunity in what accounts for
up to 60 percent of Europe's market for telecommunications
services. More significantly, customers throughout Britain, France
and Germany will be able to access our unique global network.
Customers won't have to be in the country's financial
capital to get our unique telecomms services."
MCI WorldCom will install data and voice communications
facilities in 20 new cities connected by the network. (see attached
map). These will provide customers with national and international
high-speed private circuit, local-area-network interconnection,
frame relay and ATM services as well as local, national and
international switched voice. Separate announcements will be made
regarding the future installation of metropolitan area networks in
certain of these towns and cities.
As with MCI WorldCom's existing long distance network in
Europe, the process of installing the long distance fiber optic
network has been accelerated through the acquisition of rights of
way and dark fiber from a number of utility and transport
organizations as well as MCI WorldCom's own installations. All
transmission electronics and network management will be built by
MCI WorldCom to the same high quality, resilient, Synchronous
Digital Hierarchy architecture common to its existing metropolitan
area, international and intercontinental cable networks.
MCI WorldCom International Activities
MCI WorldCom provides local to global telecommunications services
in markets outside the United States. The company operates as a
facilities-based provider of voice and data communications services
in 16 countries across Europe, North and South America and the Asia
Pacific region and maintains correspondent relationships with all
of the world's leading communication carriers. In the second
quarter of 1998, MCI WorldCom reported international annualized
revenue of U.S.$1.2 billion.
Europe and Asia-Pacific -- In Europe, MCI WorldCom has fully
licensed operating subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Germany,
Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK and resale operations
in Italy. In the Asia-Pacific region, MCI WorldCom is a licensed
operator in Japan and Australia where it is currently building
facilities and resale operations in Hong Kong and Singapore. The
company already provides international value added
telecommunications services in these countries and in Singapore and
Hong Kong.
The Americas -- MCI WorldCom operates nationwide networks in the
largest telecommunications markets in North and South America and
is rapidly expanding its network presence across these continents.
MCI WorldCom is the second largest long distance carrier in the
United States and offers local service in more than 100 cities. In
Latin America, MCI WorldCom provides a range of data, Internet and
voice services over state-of-the-art networks in Brazil, through
its controlling interest in Embratel, and in Mexico, through its
joint venture company Avantel. With Telefónica de España, MCI
WorldCom International is pursuing a number of opportunities to
expand its presence in the fast-growing Latin American
telecommunications market.
MCI WorldCom, Inc.
MCI WorldCom is a global telecommunications company with revenue of
more than $30 billion. MCI WorldCom is a premier provider of
facilities-based and fully integrated local, long distance,
international and Internet services. MCI WorldCom's global
networks, including its state-of-the-art pan-European network and
transoceanic cable systems, provide end-to-end high-capacity
connectivity to more than 35,000 buildings worldwide. For more
information on MCI WorldCom, visit the World Wide Web at
http://www.mciworldcom.com or
http://www.wcom.com
.
