MCI WorldCom To Expand Internet Data Centers And Increase Sites To Over 15 Worldwide
New facilities to meet growing demand for hosting Intranets, Extranets and Internet web sites worldwide Fairfax, Va., August 9, 1999 - MCI WorldCom (NASD: WCOM) today announced plans to target more than $100 million of capital spending this year to build Internet hosting centers and expand existing facilities. The data center expansion will enable completion of seven new UUhost Data Centers(UDCs) and the expansion of two existing facilities by the end of the first quarter of 2000. UUNET will own and operate a total of 15 facilities worldwide.
The new data centers will be located in major U.S. metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and a seventh city yet to be named. UUNET currently owns and operates eight data centers in London and Manchester, England; Paris, France; Dortmund, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; Columbus, Ohio; San Jose, Calif; and Washington, D.C. Plans for sites in additional key loctions around the world are underway.
"The build-out and expansion of our data centers demonstrates our commitment to be a global leader in Web hosting," said Mark Spagnolo, President and CEO, UUNET. "As more companies recognize the Internet's potential for conducting business, the demand for high-reliability, high-performance solutions continues to increase. With unparalleled expertise, experience, and assets, UUNET provides an unbeatable combination for delivering business-class hosting solutions to meet a wide range of business needs."
E-Business Solutions Enabled by Web
Forrester Research forecasts that the Web hosting market will reach $14.6 billion by 2003. Already a leading hosting provider, UUNET currently supports more than 1,700 hosting customers worldwide. Businesses, such as TALPX, Inc., an online lumber exchange, look to UUNET to completely outsource the management of their virtual business.
"Our site, hosted by UUNET, is our business," said Dave Adams, vice chairman, TALPX. "We depend 100 percent on the reliability and functionality of our Web site to process lumber transactions for our members. With UUNET's impeccable, reliable service and high-speed connections, TALPX has captured lumber market share relatively quickly. Members using TALPXTM today represent about 10 percent of the lumber production in North America. Without UUNET as our hosting provider, our business would not exist today."
UUhost Data Center Features
Directly connected to UUNET's high-speed OC-48 network, the new Internet data centers will deliver reliable, highly scalable solutions. All UDC facilities are designed to have redundant high-speed connections to the UUNET global network. The new data centers will offer infrastructure-based IP services including enhanced colocation and high-end hosting services for businesses that need close proximity to their Web servers, the Internet, and content end users while leveraging MCI WorldCom's end-to-end global network.
Colocation customers can locate their Internet servers in UUNET's highly secure, reliable UDCs. Services for colocation customers include: an environmentally controlled data center space with physical and electronic security; uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and generator power back up; lockable server racks; 24 x 7 monitoring and operations support; and high-speed network connectivity.
All UDC services are backed by industry-leading, proactive Service Level Agreements (SLAs) including the only industry Power Availability Guarantee. The Power Availability Guarantee requires UUNET to have Alternating Current (AC) power available 100 percent of the time or customers are credited based on the time the power is unavailable.
UUhost Data Center services also include a secure, remote administration tool with a web-based interface. Using the web-based interface, customers can generated and view reports on bandwidth utilization and systems capacity, customize system monitoring controls, and set thresholds for proactive notification services.
UUhost Services
MCI WorldCom will continue to market its UUNET hosting services to mid-size and large businesses and Application Service Providers (ASPs) worldwide. UUNET currently offers a complete line of business-class hosting solutions, including shared and dedicated hosting, e-commerce solutions, groupware solutions, colocation services and Enterprise-Class Hosting Services.
