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To: jackrabbit who wrote (6313)	4/6/2000 11:09:00 AM
From: KevRupert	Respond to of 11568

MCI WorldCom, AOL extend deal Phone carrier to provide bulk of Net connectivity By Jeffry Bartash, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 9:58 AM ET Apr 6, 2000 Telecom Report WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- MCI WorldCom and American Online said Thursday they've extended and expanded their agreement by which the long-distance carrier supplies much of the dial-up access for customers of the nation's largest online service. Shares of AOL (AOL: news, msgs) rose 1 9/16 to 64 9/16. MCI WorldCom gained 1 5/8 to 45 7/16. The new arrangement ought to please MCI WorldCom investors. The company's relationship with AOL has been a source of concern since the the online provider agreed earlier this year to acquire media giant Time Warner (TWX: news, msgs). Some investors worried that AOL might shift a large portion of its access contracts to Time Warner, which owns the second largest cable network in the country. Yet MCI (WCOM: news, msgs) executives have insisted for months that it was not in danger of losing its AOL business. AOL is one of the largest customers of WorldCom's UUNet subsidiary, which operates a so-called Internet backbone. Industry analysts also noted the Time Warner's network wasn't up to the task yet of handling AOL's networking needs. In a statement, however, the two companies did not disclose the extent of their deal. "Under the expanded relationship, UUNet will continue to build out and manage a significant portion of AOLnet, as well as continue to provide AOL with dial-up services on Uunet's dial access network." AOL, with 22 million customers, is by far the nation's largest online service.