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Technology Stocks : WCOM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ASA4Me who wrote (3372)	10/6/1998 10:29:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 11568

MCI WorldCom to More Than Triple Pan-European Network by 1999 Bloomberg News October 6, 1998, 9:24 a.m. ET MCI WorldCom to More Than Triple Pan-European Network by 1999 London, Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- MCI WorldCom Inc., the second largest U.S. long distance phone company, said it will more than triple the size of its European fiber optic network to 10,350 kilometers from 3,200 kilometers by the end of 1999. The company said most of its expansion will be in the U.K., where its network will grow to 2,200 kilometers from 200 kilometers, connecting 21 cities from its current presence in London. It will spend 20 million pounds ($33.7 million) to lease fiber optic capacity from Racal Electronics Plc for 25 years, Racal said. Across Europe, WorldCom's network will expand from eight to 45 cities. The expansion will put WorldCom into direct competition with British Telecommunications Plc among others. BT said in June it will run a pan-European network from January, estimating that market will generate sales of 140 billion pounds in 2001- 2002. ''This expansion will be a significant portion of the $1.5 billion committed towards international operations,'' said Mark Weeks, a spokesman for WorldCom. MCI WorldCom is the U.K.'s third largest carrier of international phone calls with 18 percent of the market, after market leader BT, and Cable & Wireless Plc. It is hoping to increase its market share and said it will hire new staff to operate a bigger network and for sales and support offices in Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle and Reading. The Jackson, Mississipi-based company said it will install five new exchanges capable of carrying voice transmission in Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and two in Reading. It will also add seven new switching nodes, which carry lighter loads used for data, in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Reading. WorldCom competes with BT and some other fledgling pan- European network operators, including Hermes Europe Railtel BV and Esprit Telecom Group Plc. It is competing for telecommunications traffic between European countries, which represents 75 percent of all European international traffic. Its existing network in Europe, called Ulysses, connects cities including Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Paris through 3,200 kilometers of fiber optic cable and links them to New York. WorldCom has 4,000 business clients in Europe and links 27,000 businesses in the U.S. It will be the first operator to offer capacity at a flat rate throughout the continent. WorldCom shares fell 1 5/8, or 3.5 percent, to 44 5/8 yesterday. Racal shares rose 3.5 pence, or 1.2 percent, to 298 pence today. --Bundeep S. Rangar in the London newsroom (44-171) 330 7053/js More News: WCOM