MCI WorldCom Expands Managed International Private Line Services In Europe And Asia
Service Expansion Supported by Industry-Leading Service Level
Guarantees (SLGs) to Customers Worldwide
CLINTON, MS, January 24, 2000 -- To meet the explosive demand
for dedicated high-speed connections in Europe and Asia, MCI WorldCom
announced today the expansion of 25 new cities for Managed
International Private Line service (MIPL), known as International
Business Link (IBL) in Europe and Asia. With this expansion, MCI
WorldCom is now able to offer customers seamless, end-to-end dedicated
high-speed MIPL voice and data service over network facilities to 44
international cities, with expanded coverage to approximately 100
cities becoming available by the end of 2000.
The extended global reach will allow multinational corporations with
facilities in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America to transmit large
volumes of data, multimedia, graphics or voice quickly and
cost-effectively between major business centers around the world.
Countries with expanded coverage include France, Germany, Malaysia,
Philippines, South Korea, and the U.K.
"Businesses around the world are looking for ways to link
international facilities with simplified, cost-effective, high-speed
data connections and MCI WorldCom Managed International Private Line
service offers an extremely attractive solution," said Jim
DeMerlis, vice president of data and enterprise product marketing for
MCI WorldCom. "By expanding the geographic reach of point-to-point
connectivity over wholly-owned facilities, customers are able to
realize significant service and price efficiencies in many of the key
business centers around the world-all backed up by industry-leading
service level guarantees."
MCI WorldCom's Managed International Private Line service is
designed for customers requiring speeds ranging from 64 Kbps to OC-3
(STM-1) with extensive coverage, high quality end to end service with
dedicated local support.
Some of MIPL's features include shortened lead times for
installation, improved pricing, better network availability, automatic
restoration, network monitoring and management, one contact, one
contract, and billing in the preferred language and currency all of
which goes far beyond the traditional half-circuit, non-diverse
international private line services. Customers utilizing MCI
WorldCom's wholly-owned MIPL facilities can realize substantial
savings over other carriers, which, in many cases, have to hand-off
customer traffic to other providers for termination.
To back up the expanded coverage, MCI WorldCom is introducing
industry-leading service level guarantees (SLGs) for its MIPL service,
featuring a guaranteed network availability for customers using MCI
WorldCom-owned on-net access facilities from customer building to
customer building. This service level guarantee is available for new
contracts.
According to a recent industry study from The Insight Research
Corp., the demand for International Private Line services is expected
to be strong for the next several years. Insight Research estimates the
International Private Line market will experience a five-year compound
annual growth rate of 14 percent, with the market growing from $1.1
billion in 1999 to $2.1 billion in 2004. In addition, Insight Research
says that International Private Line is the best alternative for
companies needing to transport high-volume, high-quality point-to-point
traffic of any type or mix, providing the company has qualified
personnel to manage the network at all sites.
MCI WorldCom (NASDAQ: WCOM) is a global leader in communications
services with 1998 revenues of more than $30 billion and operations in
more than 65 countries. MCI WorldCom's global networks provide
high-capacity connectivity to more than 45,000 buildings worldwide. MCI
WorldCom and Sprint have announced a merger agreement, which the
companies expect to close in the second half of 2000, following
regulatory and shareholder approvals. The new company will be called
WorldCom. For more information go to http://www.wcom.com.
