LDDS WorldCom teams with NETCOM to provide customers greater internet access options

JACKSON, Miss. -- LDDS WorldCom, one of the four largest long-distance companies in the U.S., has signed a non-exclusive agreement to provide its customers an array of Internet access services through NETCOM On-Line Communication Services, Inc., a leading nationwide Internet access provider.

The two-year agreement will make available through LDDS WorldCom's commercial sales force NETCOM's full range of corporate Internet access solutions. When coupled with NetCruiser, NETCOM's award-winning graphical interface, these corporate connections allow companies to easily establish their own virtual network through the Internet. Types of service available through the resale agreement with NETCOM include high-speed dedicated connections such as T1 (1.54 Mbps) and 56 Kbps as well as dial-up connectivity. "This agreement will provide our customers with an efficient and economical means to access the Internet as a part of their overall data, voice and video package from LDDS WorldCom," said Frank Grillo, LDDS WorldCom vice president of marketing. "With NETCOM, we have created a seamless methodology for customer support, invoicing and information sharing that will assure our customers of top quality service. "At the same time, our customers soon will be able to see for themselves that the NetCruiser software provides especially user-friendly access to all the resources of the Internet."

NetCruiser includes the most useful Internet resource tools such as a World-Wide Web browser, E-Mail, IRC, Gopher, FTP, Usenet news groups and Telnet. "This is a strategically important agreement to NETCOM," said Don Hutchison, NETCOM vice president of marketing. "Through LDDS WorldCom's nationwide salesforce, NETCOM's services will now be offered to a much larger business audience and at the same time make NetCruiser many individuals' first interface to the Internet."

NETCOM On-Line Communication Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: NETC) provides high-quality, low-cost, nationwide Internet access over a proprietary high-speed digital network. A public company since December 1994, NETCOM has experienced substantial growth in both its subscriber base and the number of direct access points by aggressively building a nationwide network. Because NETCOM operates its own TCP/IP network, the backbone technology of the Internet, NETCOM users benefit from a stable, reliable network at low prices, in addition to NetCruiser, the company's award-winning Windows-based user interface.

LDDS WorldCom, one of the four largest U.S.-based long-distance carriers, is a full-service telecommunications company that operates a nationwide digital fiber-optic network and has worldwide network capacity. It offers domestic and international data, voice and video products and services to other carriers, business customers and the residential market. The shares of WorldCom, Inc. trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol WCOM.