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To: jmhollen who wrote (3173)	3/1/1999 11:43:00 AM
From: jmhollen	Respond to of 7209

More telecom news....... ************************* MCI WorldCom to Spend US$6.5 Billion in 1999 on Global Push, Focus on Asia MCI WorldCom to Spend $6.5 Bln in '99 on Global Push (Update4) (Adds share activity in 6th paragraph.) Hong Kong, March 1 (Bloomberg) -- MCI WorldCom Inc., the No. 2 U.S. long-distance phone company, said it will spend $6.5 billion this year to expand globally and plans to bolster its presence in Asia, where markets are opening to competition for the first time. MCI WorldCom's investment comes after the company spent $12 billion over the past several years to expand its operations worldwide. In Asia, revenue is expected to surge to ''a few billion dollars'' in five years from about $100 million now, said John Sidgmore, vice chairman. MCI WorldCom is stepping up its investment in Asia as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and others countries begin to lift restrictions on foreign ownership. ''Investment in Asia has not been the kind of investment we and others have made,'' said Sidgmore. He declined to disclose how much the group plans to invest in the region. Korea has increased the amount of Korea Telecom Corp., its biggest phone company, that can be owned by foreigners. Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. accepted a cash payout from the government for an early end to its international direct-dial monopoly. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. will face competition for fixed-line services for the first time next year. MCI WorldCom's shares fell 11/16 to 81 13/16 in early trading of 1.1 million shares. Asian Ambition Sidgmore, also chief executive of MCI WorldCom's Internet unit, UUNet Technologies Inc., was visiting Hong Kong to announce the establishment of that division's first office. Staffed by 50 people, the office will serve as UUNet and MCI WorldCom's regional headquarters. UUNet plans to expand its business by selling its Internet infrastructure services to companies and other Internet service providers. UUNet, which provides infrastructure, or bandwidth, to America Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, said it will set up a subsidiary in Japan next month, aiming to become the country's largest provider of such services within three years. ''We are the largest player in the United States individually and we are the largest player in Europe individually,'' said Sidgmore. ''I don't see any reason we ultimately would not be the leader in the Asia-Pacific region.'' Internet Traffic Growing Worldwide Internet traffic is growing more than tenfold annually, while voice traffic is growing at about 8 percent a year, he said. By 2003, less than 10 percent of all communications infrastructure in the world will be used for voice and 90 percent will be used for Internet traffic, he said.