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To: Tradelite who wrote (23810)	4/13/2000 10:35:00 AM
From: Tradelite	Respond to of 57584

Could be a pop in WCOM price soon....news in today's Washington Post ______________________ MCI Losing Visibility In the New WorldCom By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, April 13, 2000; Page E02 MCI WorldCom chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers is expected to announce today a series of initiatives aimed at bolstering the company's flagging stock price by reinforcing its focus on the Internet, knowledgeable sources said last night. As part of the effort, the company plans to launch an advertising campaign that will tout the new WorldCom as a leader in transporting computer data around the globe. The ads will refer to the company as WorldCom and not mention the name MCI. The MCI brand name has currency, but only in the increasingly antiquated world of long-distance telephone service. MCI WorldCom Inc. will remain the company's official corporate name, though Ebbers has already said he plans to forge the future under the banner of WorldCom alone--assuming he gains regulatory approval for his pending merger with Sprint Corp. That deal remains under review by the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. MCI WorldCom is already the undisputed front-runner in capturing the coursing data traffic of the Internet. Its subsidiary, UUNet, is the owner of the world's largest network of Internet "backbones"--major high-speed conduits of electronic data traffic--and a fast-growing artery of cash. But the company's public image remains tied largely to MCI, a high-profile brand name nurtured in the Washington area as an upstart rival to AT&T Corp. that has swelled into the second-largest long-distance carrier in the nation. These days, the long-distance business sometimes seems a relic of another age--a point that has not helped MCI WorldCom's stock price. Since last summer, it has lost more than half its value. The recent pain of the Nasdaq notwithstanding, Wall Street loves the growth areas of telecommunications--wireless and the Internet. MCI WorldCom's new strategy is aimed at reassuring investors that this is something the company understands deeply. MCI will live on as a long-distance brand, sources said, as the company continues to advertise its discount rates. MCI Center, home to the Washington Wizards and Capitals, will endure for the time being as well. Now WorldCom will be emphasized as well.