WorldCom Creates Online Technology Glossary for Spanish-Speaking Members of the Digital Generation

Partners with Tomás Rivera Policy Institute to Make 'Cyber
Speak' Accessible to Hispanic Community Through Tecnoguía Web
Site

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 21, 2000 - WorldCom today unveiled the
Tecnoguía, the telecommunications industry's first online, searchable
Spanish and English glossary featuring more than 1,000 frequently-used
high-tech and Internet-related terms. Located on the WorldCom web site,
the Tecnoguía (www.wcom.com/tecnoguia) was developed in partnership
with leading public policy and linguistic experts to provide a useful
resource for the rapidly evolving language of the digital generation
for one of the world's fastest growing Internet user populations.

Developed in cooperation with the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute -
the leading think tank on Latino issues - and Spanish-language
linguistic experts, this web-based resource will enable users to
transcend existing language barriers with easy to understand
definitions and translations of terms frequently used in the
Information Age. The Tecnoguía, which literally means "techno-guide,"
makes it easier and more enjoyable to navegar por la red (surf the
Internet), conversar por la red (chat online), or enviar un mensaje
electrónico (send e-mail) by making high-tech and Internet terms much
more accessible to Spanish-speaking members of the digital
generation.

"By creating the Tecnoguía, WorldCom is facilitating the
exchange of ideas between Spanish- and English-speaking communities,
providing an important bilingual resource for new technological
terms," said Wayne Huyard, WorldCom president of Mass Markets.
"The Tecnoguía is a natural extension of WorldCom's "generation d"
initiative, which empowers a new generation of individuals with the
tools they need to realize the promise of the new digital economy
around the world."

"The number of Hispanics logging-on to the Internet is growing
at an unprecedented rate," said Dr. Harry Pachón, president of the
Tomás Rivera Policy Institute. "WorldCom and the Tomás Rivera
Policy Institute share a common goal of bringing the benefits and
opportunities of technology to the Hispanic community."

DYNAMIC GROWTH AND EVOLVING LANGUAGE

Spanish-speaking individuals are one of the fastest growing
populations in the U.S. and are logging-on to the Internet in
ever-increasing numbers. According to the Tomás Rivera Policy
Institute, there are approximately 3.1 million Hispanic households
on-line in the U.S., comprising 30.3 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic
households. Outside the U.S., the Latin American Internet services
market is expected to grow by an average of 42 percent each year until
2004, according to IDC Latin America. But despite the skyrocketing
numbers of Spanish-speaking individuals getting connected to the
Internet, the fact remains that a majority of tech-related terms and
web content are English language-based, thus creating unique challenges
when the language of Cervantes encounters 21st Century technology.

According to Dr. Robert J. Blake, Director of the University of
California Consortium on Language Learning and Teaching, all
"living" languages change and grow in response to societal
innovations. With the advent of the Information Age, the Spanish
language now seeks to incorporate the new "cyber talk" either
by creating new words based on old roots or by borrowing words from
other languages such as English or French. At first, multiple solutions
abound for the same concept. For example, the expression "to
[mouse] click" can be rendered as hacer clic, cliquear, or
clicar.

"Eventually, the society at large picks favorites and fully
integrates them into the Spanish sound system," says Dr. Blake.
"The WorldCom Tecnoguía provides a useful service by reflecting
some of the more frequent options that exist for technological
vocabulary and by helping with the standardization process."

By using the Tecnoguía, terms which may have been difficult to
translate or translated inaccurately are now readily available and easy
to understand. One quick visit to the Tecnoguía web site will provide
translations to someone who, for example, wants to descargar archivos
(download electronic files) through a banda ancha (broadband)
connection to become part of the aldea global (global village).

WorldCom offers a wide variety of products and services designed to
meet the needs of the U.S. Hispanic community. In addition, WorldCom
maintains 19 offices throughout Latin America, and is considered one of
the world's best-positioned companies to provide advanced
communications services to meet the anticipated growth trends in Latin
America.

ABOUT WORLDCOM

WorldCom, Inc. (NASDAQ: WCOM) is a preeminent global communications
company for the digital generation, operating in more than 65
countries. Global revenues in 1999 were $36 billion, with $15 billion
from high-growth data, Internet and international services. WorldCom
provides the innovative technologies and services that are the
foundation for business in the 21st century. For more information go to
http://www.wcom.com

ABOUT THE TOMÁS RIVERA POLICY INSTITUTE

Founded in 1985, the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute was established as a
non-profit organization to conduct and disseminate objective,
policy-relevant research and its implications to decision makers on key
issues affecting Latino communities. Under the guidance of its
President, Dr. Harry P. Pachón, TRPI has evolved into the country's
premier research institute garnering national recognition for its work
in the fields of education, immigration policy, information technology,
and civic and social research. For more information, go to
http://www.trpi.org