WorldCom Announces $300 Million Expansion of UUNET Network

FAIRFAX, VA., (February 19, 1997) --

With dial access demand growing at the rate of over 10% every week
and traffic over the backbone almost doubling every quarter, UUNET
Technologies, Inc., the largest provider of Internet services in the
world and a subsidiary of WorldCom, Inc., announced today that it has
initiated the most ambitious network expansion plan in the
company's history. UUNET and WorldCom said they will spend
approximately $300 million on the expansion and upgrade program in
order to meet the dramatic growth in demand projected for 1997.
Combining all the elements, this expansion will more than quadruple
the available capacity in terms of both backbone bandwidth and dial
capacity.

"In terms of schedule, scope and implementation of advanced
technology, what we are doing in our network is absolutely
unprecedented -- for us or any other ISP," said John Sidgmore,
president and CEO of UUNET, and chief operations officer of WorldCom.
"The pace of growth in the Internet underscores the importance
of ISPs being facilities based. The recent merger with WorldCom,
gives UUNET the ability to secure and control the bandwidth necessary
to meet our customers' requirements for high-performance
service."

UUNET Technologies, a subsidiary of WorldCom, Inc., has built its
business and reputation on the availability and robustness of its
network. The company currently has approximately 50,000 business
customers worldwide, and over 600 high-speed customer connections are
added to the network every month. UUNET is also the only ISP with
local access in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico. UUNET is the official Internet Access Provider to the
Microsoft NetworkTM. UUNET also supports GTE, EarthLink Networks,
WebTV Networks, Inc. and several other ISPs and on-line service
providers.

Over the next six months UUNET will implement a migration of its
backbone segments to support the highest speed available today for IP
(Internet Protocol) transmission: OC12 (622 million bits per second).
This will involve migration of the backbone links to the ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) protocol. ATM is the only proven
currently available technology which supports IP transmission at OC12
speeds. The company will install ASX-200 and ASX-1000 ForeRunnerTM
ATM switches from FORE Systems, Pittsburgh, PA.

To increase the number of dial access ports, the most common means
of accessing the Internet, the company will install new generation,
high density MAX TNT remote access concentrators from Ascend
Communications, Alameda, Calif. The MAX TNT concentrators, which
support both analog and digital dial-up traffic, will be deployed
throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. The expansion
represents a more than quadrupling of UUNET's dial access
infrastructure.

Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., UUNET Technologies, Inc. is the
world's largest provider of Internet services, offering a
comprehensive range of access options, World Wide Web hosting
services, security products and consulting services to businesses,
professionals, and on-line service providers. The company's
network is comprised of POPs throughout the United States and in
Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as connections to
Internet service providers around the world. Founded in 1987, UUNET
is recognized as the first commercial Internet service provider and
is a subsidiary of WorldCom Inc. UUNET's World Wide Web address
is
http://www.uu.net

.

WorldCom is a global business telecommunications company.
Operating in more than 50 countries, the company is a premier
provider of facilities-based and fully integrated local, long
distance, international and Internet services. WorldCom subsidiary,
UUNET Technologies, Inc., is the world's largest provider of
Internet services. WorldCom's World Wide Web address is:
http://www.wcom.com. The common and depositary shares of WorldCom
trade on the Nasdaq National Market (U.S.) under the symbol WCOM and
WCOMP, respectively.