MCI WorldCom Introduces New Global IP-Based Virtual Private Network Service

Service Will Enable Businesses to Deploy Multi-National Corporate Networks Incorporating Global Service Level Agreements, End-to-End Security and Management & Monitoring

Networld+Interop, Las Vegas, May 11, 1999 - MCI WorldCom (NASD: WCOM) today unveiled UUsecure VPN ^sm for dedicated access, a new UUNET service, allowing corporations to run business-critical applications over IP-based Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) while leveraging the global reach and high-performance of the UUNET network. UUsecure VPN will be the industry's first global IP-based VPN service to offer comprehensive Service Level Agreements (SLAs), built-in encryption, bandwidth prioritization and around-the-clock centralized network management and monitoring services, enabling corporations to provide communications between branch offices or with partners, suppliers and vendors. UUsecure VPN is a family of fully managed IP-based VPN services, which will include dial and dedicated services and will support multi-protocol local area networks (LAN). The family is an addition to MCI WorldCom's full suite of corporate networking services, which also includes fast-growing frame relay, ATM and SONET private lines as part of the company's On-Net solutions.

UUsecure VPN for dedicated access is scheduled to be introduced on a country-by-country basis starting in the United States in June and expanding to 14 countries later in the year. It will be offered with the full range of access options from Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) to full capacity T-3s/E-3s. J.D. Edwards & Co., a global manufacturer of enterprise software, will be one of the first customers to trial the service.

"UUsecure VPN will help meet customer needs for IP-based solutions that leverage the scalability and global reach of our network," said Ralph Montfort, UUNET director of product marketing for dedicated services. "This solution will address the key elements customers are looking for in an enterprise VPN solution including international reach, global SLAs, standards-based security and bandwidth prioritization."

Product Features
The service will be supported by the following features:

• Industry-first VPN SLAs, which will include:
  • Guaranteed average global end-to-end availability-measured site-to-site between all VPN sites-at 99.9 percent over a one-month period for 10+ sites and at 99.8 percent over a one-month time period for three to nine sites;
  • Guaranteed average latency at 120 milliseconds round trip between VPN sites within the U.S. and between VPN sites within Europe over the course of the month;
• Standards-based IPSec encryption utilizing either 56 bit or 168 bit encryption and tunneling; and
• In-country local language service and support backed by UUNET's 24 x 7 global VPN Network Operations Center.

In the fourth quarter of this year, additional capabilities are scheduled to include:

• Quality of Service, including Class Based Queuing and other management tools for bandwidth prioritization and segregation of high-priority traffic; and
• Integrated remote dial access to corporate sites.

"By combining a global service with site-to-site VPN monitoring and management, end-to-end VPN SLAs, and standards-based security through tunneling and encryption, UUNET will offer a unique, industry-leading VPN service, "said Eric Zines, senior analyst, VPNs, TeleChoice. "As a result, multi-national corporations will be able to deploy a global VPN with UUNET and feel confident that business-critical applications will be handled more securely and reliably between all sites and between sites and remote users." Customer Testimonial
J.D. Edwards & Co., a multimillion dollar, global manufacturer of enterprise software will be one of the first trial sites for the new service. "J.D. Edwards is very excited about UUsecure VPN for dedicated access as one of our wide area networking solutions," said Dan Lacinski, director of network services of J.D. Edwards & Co. "UUsecure VPN will allow us to leverage the global reach of MCI WorldCom's Internet network to securely connect our business partners in a cost-effective, flexible and scalable manner while providing many value-added networking services. From a cost-perspective, an IP-based solution offers a very attractive value, especially when backed by measurable, meaningful VPN SLAs, as with UUsecure VPN. We have been looking for such a solution for over a year now."

One Box Solution
Using Xedia Corporation's new Access Point QVPN system, UUsecure VPN for dedicated access will offer customers an easy-to-use one-box solution for dedicated and dial connectivity, end-to-end tunneling and encryption and VPN monitoring and reporting. The Xedia-based service accommodates scalability for large-scale, meshed Intranets as well as hub and spoke Extranets, and will provide bandwidth management technologies for outbound packet prioritization for optimal utilization of bandwidth.

The bandwidth management feature will enable customers to prioritize packets by applications or user groups. For example, network managers can ensure that bandwidth needed for business-critical applications is allocated to higher priority applications other than e-mail and web browsing.

Pricing and Availability
UUNET plans to have the service available in 14 countries by year's end. U.S. services are scheduled to be available in June. Services in Canada, U.K., Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and Hong Kong are scheduled to be available in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, services in Belgium, Australia and New Zealand are scheduled to be available.

Pricing for UUsecure VPN for dedicated access in the U.S. ranges from $595 per month for a 56K solution to $1,895 per month for a fractional T-1 (256 - 384 Kbps) and $35,500 per month for a full T-3 (45 Mbps) plus installation charges. Pricing for European and Asia Pacific services will be made available during the roll-out. The monthly service fee includes Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), network connectivity, web-enabled reporting and 24 x 7 end-to-end management and monitoring.

Failure to meet either the monthly average VPN availability guarantee or the monthly average latency guarantee will result in a 15 percent credit of the total VPN monthly charge for all sites, and failure to meet both guarantees will result in a 30 percent credit of the total VPN monthly charge. Inter-regional SLAs and SLAs for the Asia-Pacific region will become available as services are rolled out.