EBSCO Information Services Selects MCI As Its Technology Ally In Two-Year, $5 Million Agreement.

BIRMINGHAM., Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, l997--EBSCO Information Services, one of the world's leading providers of online database reference media, has selected MCI as its technology ally for communications services in a two-year, $5 million agreement.

In addition to providing EBSCO with a fully integrated suite of advanced voice and data communications services, MCI will provide high capacity Internet transmission and private line services for the global network of EBSCOhost(R) Communication Centers.

As a result of the EBSCOhost global network project, academic and public libraries, school districts, colleges, universities and corporations worldwide will gain fast access electronically to EBSCO's comprehensive multimedia reference databases.

"Our decision to connect with internetMCI brings the power of the world's largest and fastest Internet backbone network to EBSCO," said Tim Collins, vice president of EBSCO Industries and division general manager of EBSCO Publishing. "It offers a tremendous boost to EBSCO's efforts to provide the most convenient and efficient online research services to our customers in the U.S. and around the world."

With MCI's technical assistance, EBSCO is developing its own electronic custom network system for clients that speeds the flow of PC initiated research requests from all points around the globe into its database host destination for fulfillment.

Customer traffic enters the enhanced EBSCOhost system via the on ramps of the World Wide Web or EBSCO provided communications software, and is routed to individual EBSCOhost Communications Centers to be deployed in selected EBSCO regional offices. From there and for the final, traffic intensive part of the journey, data is funneled from the EBSCOhost Communications Centers onto an MCI provided high-capacity private line, and directly into EBSCO Publishing's servers in Massachusetts.

"We are very pleased to work with MCI to enhance global access to EBSCOhost," said Collins. "The joining of MCI's Internet services and direct lines operated by MCI with EBSCOhost, will allow customers to experience less Internet congestion, resulting in more efficient research results, even during peak access hours."

In addition to deploying internetMCI and MCI Hyperstream frame relay technology , EBSCO will make use of voice communications services on the MCI Vnet plan, MCI Vision 800 service for toll-free, in-bound calling, and audio conferencing services via networkMCI Conferencing.

"MCI is delighted to become EBSCO's Internet and communications services technology ally," said Garrett M. Bender, MCI Southeast regional vice president. "We look forward to helping to make EBSCO's wealth of resource information accessible from anyplace, at anytime, at the touch of a keyboard."

EBSCO Information Services provides fully integrated delivery solutions worldwide through subscription management, reference database development and production, online multi-database access and document delivery. EBSCOhost, compatible with a number of hardware and software configurations including all major integrated library systems and online public access catalogues, is accessible using EBSCO's Windows, Macintosh and UNIX character clients, as well as through the World Wide Web using any popular Web browser.

MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., provides a full range of integrated communications services to more than 20 million customers. Credited with opening up the U.S. long distance market for competition, MCI is now leading the charge to bring competition to the $100 billion local market, offering American consumers for the first time the freedom to choose their local carrier. With quarterly annualized revenue of more than $18 billion, MCI is one of the largest and fastest growing telecommunications companies in the world.

CONTACT: MCI

Steve Fox, 770/668-5359

[e-mail]

or

EBSCO

Julie Taglieri, 800/653-2726, ext. 253

[e-mail]