Goodbye to MCI

Cable & Wireless USA plans to announce this week that it will invest $670 million over the next two years in its U.S. Internet backbone network. The move should lessen the company's dependence on MCI WorldCom.

C&W recently filed suit against MCI WorldCom, charging that it was unresponsive in supplying high-bandwidth connections to support C&W's backbone business. MCI sold the backbone to C&W as a condition of its merger with WorldCom.

C&W is being "re-invented around the Internet and data business," said Dennis Matteucci, CEO of C&W USA. Until now, the company has focused on offering voice services to small and medium-sized businesses. The expanded network also will support other Internet protocol (IP)-based services, including virtual private networks and, perhaps, IP voice, Matteucci said.

C&W initially is building an OC-48 (2.4 Gb/s) network, which will be upgraded to OC-192 (9.6 Gb/s) in 2001 using dark fiber that it will purchase from Level 3 Communications. Jupiter Networks will supply routers and Fore Systems will supply asynchronous transfer mode switches.

"Our focus will be on getting greater reach into the top 40 to 50 [metropolitan statistical areas]," said Jeff Young, C&W USA's chief engineer, who previously held a similar position with MCI.

The company will add 20 points of presence (POPs) to supplement the 22 it acquired from MCI. Plans include connecting the U.S. network with C&W's global network, which spans 70 countries.

Ultimately, international customers will be able to connect to C&W's Internet backbone through a POP in their own region, said Young. Currently, many of those customers purchase a connection all the way to one of C&W's U.S. POPs.