July 16, 2003 MCI (WCOEQ, MCWEQ) today announced the addition of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access to its industry leading IP VPN product in 19 countries across Europe. MCI's DSL offering provides customers with the ability to leverage a DSL-based connection in order to integrate their remote locations, smaller sites and tele-workers into an IP based VPN, forming a seamless platform capable of hosting their corporate intranet and extranet applications.
MCI's offering will provide companies that already have or are considering agreements with local DSL providers for simple IP connectivity the ability to leverage those DSL based connections to integrate their remote locations, smaller sites and tele-workers into an IP-based VPN provisioned and managed by MCI. Furthermore, to maximize the reach of an already existing dedicated VPN from MCI, customers can utilize the DSL access to integrate new sites into it forming a seamless platform capable of hosting their corporate intranet and extranet applications.
"This launch represents the first step in a larger initiative designed to offer the widest range of access options to our European customers," said Steve Best, MCI vice president of Marketing in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "DSL provides businesses an alternative access solution to complement their dedicated access options in place today. MCI customers in 19 countries across Europe can now take advantage of this cost effective DSL access service, all riding over our industry-leading global IP network."
MCI's DSL access option is available today in: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The introduction of DSL Access to MCI IP VPN Dedicated opens the market for a broad adoption of secure enterprise networking across all business segments. MCI IP VPN Dedicated brings geographically dispersed companies together by leveraging the global reach of MCI's expansive Internet backbone and combining it with the security and reliability of private networking mechanisms.
By providing managed, end-to-end security based on the industry-standard IP Sec encryption, the service meets today's requirements of business customers for a reliable and effective communications platform to streamline their business processes. MCI’s IP VPN is available in 19 countries across Europe and a total of 57 countries worldwide, offering management, 24x7x365 pro-active monitoring, business quality maintenance, local language support and on-site installation.
The addition of DSL Access to MCI's IP VPN solution is another example of how MCI is delivering on its three-year business plan, which includes the delivery of more products to businesses for better value as one of its key objectives. Today, MCI is one of the leading international providers of enterprise networking solutions for voice, data and the Internet. In some countries, MCI is the only true alternative to incumbent carriers, providing business customers across Europe the advantage of choice and the benefits of competition to enable them to do business in new and cost-effective ways.
About WorldCom, Inc.
WorldCom, Inc. (WCOEQ, MCWEQ), which currently conducts business under the MCI brand name, is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With the industry's most expansive global IP backbone and wholly-owned data networks, WorldCom develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today's market. For more information, go to http://www.mci.com.
