Local operating companies to address the Austrian business community and provide global connectivity VIENNA, November 18, 1999 - MCI WorldCom today announced the creation of new, wholly-owned operating companies to serve the business community throughout Austria.
Based in Vienna, MCI WorldCom and UUNET (an MCI WorldCom company) will provide Austrian customers with international voice, data and Internet services as well as creating connectivity into Austria for customers around the globe. Liam Strong, chief executive, MCI WorldCom International, said: "Austria is a key location in our international expansion strategy. As witnessed in all major markets, the growth of e-business is creating unprecedented demand for bandwidth. MCI WorldCom is committed to offering Austrian businesses the best in high quality, high speed bandwidth, and end-to-end managed services on a local-global-local basis."
MCI WorldCom will be providing a mix of voice services (WorldCall, WorldDial), data services (International Frame Relay, International Business Link (IBL)) and carrier services in Austria. These services improve business productivity by reducing the cost of communications. According to leading telecoms analysis company, IDC, the Austrian Internet access market is valued at US$100 million in 1999, this is forecast to increase to US$345 million by 2003.
Vienna is connected to MCI WorldCom's pan-European fibre optic network "Ulysses" via a direct link to the Munich city network which, in turn, is connected to the transatlantic "Gemini" network between London and the USA.
Technical note
Frame Relay is a method of transmitting high-speed data over virtual rather than dedicated connections. Its capability to handle busy LAN traffic makes it ideal for wide area networks giving organizations increased productivity by improving response times through reduced congestion. MCI WorldCom's IBL service provides customers with high-quality international end-to-end private circuit capabilities.
