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Technology Stocks : Efficient Networks Inc - (Nasdaq- EFNT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scrapps who wrote (345)	7/20/2000 4:10:14 AM
From: pat mudge	Respond to of 675

July 19, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WorldCom Australia To Launch Natl Data Network Aug Dow Jones Newswires SYDNEY -- The Australian arm of WorldCom Inc. (WCOM), the U.S.-based global communications company, plans to launch a national data network rollout in August, Managing Director Suzanne Campbell said Wednesday. Speaking at a lunch hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Sydney, Campbell said the company will launch voice, data and Internet services in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide. These services will complement existing operations in Sydney and Melbourne. The pan-Australian operations will be available to customers in the third quarter of this year and hooked up to the Southern Cross Cable Network loop, which will link Australia to the U.S. via New Zealand by the end of the year. The submarine fiber optic cable is 50% owned by Telecom Corp. of New Zealand (NZT), 40% by Cable & Wireless Optus Ltd. (A.CWO) and 10% by Worldcom Inc. (WCOM). WorldCom is testing a form of broadband Internet access known as digital-subscriber line, or DSL, which uses souped up telephone lines in Australia, as well as Hong Kong and Japan, Campbell told journalists. In other parts of the world, WorldCom uses its own network infrastructure for information traffic but is considering its options in Australia. Campbell said she is looking at options relating to the proposed DSL network and hasn't made any decisions yet. WorldCom has held discussions with major telecommunication companies in Australia, she noted. When asked whether the company would use incumbent Telstra Corp.'s (TLS) lines or that of another established telecommunications company, she said, "We may roll out our own network or may be not." Separately, Campbell declined to comment on the sale of OzEmail's consumer Internet business, which WorldCom unit UUNet has continued to operate. The company has kept quiet on the sale since June 1, when it announced that it had terminated the sale of OzEmail to Australian Internet service provider eisa Ltd. (A.EIS). The A$300 million-to-A$350 million deal was called off because eisa couldn't find enough backers to fund the purchase. Earlier this year, Telstra Corp. (TLS), Australia's largest telecommunications company, offered to buy OzEmail but was forced to cancel negotiations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. WorldCom recently changed its name from MCI WorldCom. -