GE INFORMATION SERVICES AND WORLDCOM STRIKE DEAL
TO INTEGRATE THEIR GLOBAL NETWORKS
ROCKVILLE, Md., and JACKSON, Miss., May 26 /PRNewswire - AsiaNet/ -- GE Information Services (GE) and WorldCom today announced an agreement to integrate their two global communication networks to accelerate adoption of electronic commerce worldwide. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Beginning July 1, 1998, GE Information Services will begin transitioning all of its network traffic to WorldCom and will focus on delivering and supporting state-of-the-art electronic commerce solutions to its expanding global trading community. WorldCom will assume operating control of GE Information Services' network traffic and share in the management of that traffic with GE around the world.
Once the integration is complete, the breadth of WorldCom's networks will triple GE Information Services' points of presence globally and vastly expand its capabilities to deliver integrated solutions based upon contemporary data, voice, video, and Internet technologies. WorldCom will benefit from GE Information Services' substantial network traffic volume and is well positioned for the significant network transmission growth being forecasted.
"This deal provides GE Information Services with substantial opportunity to help our customers establish, grow, and manage their global electronic trading communities," said Harvey F. Seegers, president and CEO of GE Information Services. "WorldCom shares our vision and enthusiasm for the future of electronic commerce and, together, we can deliver powerful solutions that meet the demanding needs of increasingly internetworked global enterprises."
"WorldCom is proud to be alongside GE Information Services as a fellow pioneer in the development of innovative electronic commerce solutions for industry," said Bernard J. Ebbers, president and CEO of WorldCom, Inc. "Our core strengths are very complementary and create a strong foundation for delivering high value to our mutual customers."
The agreement will ultimately give GE Information Services new dial-up access points in 658 cities worldwide and 104 frame relay sites around the globe to increase its ability to manage its customers' global virtual trading communities. WorldCom will receive hundreds of millions of electronic commerce transactions to add to its growing volume of data network operations. As part of the agreement, GE Information Services will transfer certain network operations personnel to WorldCom to ensure seamless network operations and maintain current quality levels. There will be no lay-offs as part of this agreement.
GE Information Services internetworks companies with their business partners through the power of electronic commerce. As the experts in global electronic commerce, GE delivers a full suite of solutions that streamline the extended supply chain, including Electronic Data Interchange, messaging gateways, extranets, electronic catalogues, and electronic marketplaces. GE Information Services manages the world's largest electronic community of more than 90,000 trading partners. GE Information Services is one of the twelve key businesses of the General Electric Company, USA and is headquartered in Rockville, MD, USA. Find more information on GE Information Services at http://www.geis.com.
WorldCom (Nasdaq: WCOM) is a global telecommunications company. Operating in more than 50 countries, the company is a premier provider of facilities- based and fully integrated local, long distance, international and Internet services. WorldCom, under the UUNET brand, is an international provider of Internet services with multiple Points of Presence (POPs) throughout the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. WorldCom's World Wide Web address is http://www.wcom.com. The common and depositary shares of WorldCom trade on the Nasdaq National Market (U.S.) under the symbol WCOM and WCOMP, respectively.
SOURCE GE Information Systems
/CONTACT: John Berry of GE Information Services, 301-340-4244 or [email protected]; or Terri Howell of WorldCom, 402-231-3450 or [email protected]/
/Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 306146/
/Web site: http://www.wcom.com/
/Web site: http://www.geis.com/
(WCOM WCOMP GE)