CYBER-RIG JUMP-STARTS COLUMBUS BUSINESSES AS PART OF 50-CITY TECHNOLOGY TOUR; MCI and CNN Take the Information Superhighway on the Road.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 17, 1995--With a big 10-4, MCI is literally hitting the highway with one of the most technologically advanced 18-wheelers ever built. Equipped to show how easy it is to merge onto the Information Superhighway, the networkMCI BUSINESS Mobile Marketing Center visits Columbus, August 17-18, as part of a seven-month, 50-city road trip.

A first-of-its-kind technology center, TV studio and mobile office, the networkMCI BUSINESS Mobile Marketing Center is outfitted with a techno-theater and state-of-the-art workstations set up for local business people to test-drive the latest in communications and information technology.

The 48-foot MCI "Cyber-Rig" is also a roving TV studio. CNN will use it as an interactive broadcast site in Columbus and other cities for its "Talk Back Live" program as the truck travels across America. The Columbus "TalkBack Live" broadcast is scheduled for August 17 at 3:30 p.m. (EDT). A local audience will interact with "Talk Back Live" host Susan Rook and the CNN studio audience via the videoconferencing capabilities of networkMCI BUSINESS, from the Cyber-Rig's 12-seat techno-theater.

"The networkMCI BUSINESS Mobile Marketing Center gives business people the chance to see for themselves just how simple the Information Superhighway really is," says Barb Yount, Columbus field marketing specialist for MCI Business Sales and Service. "We are traveling America's highways to bring the 21st century to business people in Columbus and throughout the nation."

MCI's Cyber-Rig was developed to meet a need identified in an MCI-sponsored Gallup survey that showed nearly half (49%)(a) of white-collar workers admit they are either "cyberphobic" -- intimidated by the Information Superhighway -- or resistant to new technology.

"The MCI-Gallup study showed that eight of 10 business people see the Information Superhighway as here or on its way, but many don't know how to approach it," says Richard Ellenberger president of business sales and service for MCI Telecommunications. "With the Cyber-Rig, MCI is making house calls to American businesses to show how technology can shift their operations into high gear."

The networkMCI BUSINESS Mobile Marketing Center is a fully functional office on wheels, capable of totally independent operation or connection to local analog telephone lines, ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) lines or AC power. Six workstations feature computers with 486 processors, fax/modems, Windows and networkMCI BUSINESS software, including the new internetMCI offering and marketplaceMCI, the first brand-name secure electronic shopping area. Four are equipped with desktop videoconferencing. A working fax machine and laser printer complete the facility. Specially trained MCI representatives will steer business people through the uses and benefits of new technologies.

The "techno-theater" presentation/conference room has full videoconferencing capabilities with a 27-inch monitor, CRV video disk and VHS playback, audio CD and cassette playback, and a 486 computer loaded with the same features as those at the workstations.

In response to the MCI-Gallup study findings, MCI teamed up with Dr. Michelle Weil, a specialist in cyberphobia and the psychology of technology, to develop a handbook, "CyberSource: Cyber-Basics for Business People." The free booklet explains Information Superhighway benefits in laymen's terms and is available by calling 1-800-4-HWY-MCI.

Among the tips the "CyberSource" offers: Talk with someone who's cyber-savvy -- but can explain technology in clear, jargon-free terms -- then tap the buttons and click the mouse yourself, with a helper looking on, to guide you through the steps.

networkMCI BUSINESS is an easy-to-use, fully integrated information and communications software package that combines e-mail and fax messaging, on-line information services, document sharing and videoconferencing, and access to the Internet. A Windows-based package, networkMCI BUSINESS is designed to help businesses of all sizes.

MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has expanded from its core long distance business to become the world's third largest carrier of international calling and a premier provider of data communications over the vast Internet computer network. With annual revenue of more than $13.3 billion, the company today provides a wide array of consumer and business long distance and local services, data and video communications, on-line information, electronic mail, network management services and communications software.

(a) Net response of two questions. -0- EDITOR'S NOTE: Photos of the networkMCI BUSINESS Mobile Marketing

Center are available upon request.

CONTACT: MCI Business Markets

Caroline Rice, 213-239-2388/1-800-644-NEWS

Les Kumagai, 614-475-6345/1-800-644-NEWS