MCI-GALLUP STUDY: SMALL BUSINESS BULLISH ON CYBERSPACE; MCI Creates "Small Business Center" on the NET, Offers Internet Access to 50,000 Small Businesses; White House Conference on Small Business Uses MCI Voting Technology.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 1995-- U.S. small business owners say they believe the Internet offers a lot in the way of opportunity and will help them to compete more effectively in today's growing global marketplace. The Internet attracts up to 160,000 new cyber-travelers each month, by some estimates. Small business owners polled by Gallup for MCI seem to think the NET isn't just a toy for info-holics, but a tool that levels the playing field with "Big Business."

The MCI-Gallup survey showed that 57 percent of small business owners aware of the Internet say the opportunities it offers for small business are greater than or equal to that for bigger companies. Released in conjunction with this week's White House Conference on Small Business, the survey polled 300 small business owners about the impact of the Internet and other technologies on their business.

One concern that emerged from the survey is that nearly 30 percent of small business owners aware of the Internet believe it is hard to find relevant information on the NET. In response, MCI is enriching Internet resources for use by small businesses with today's launch of the MCI "Small Business Center" on the World Wide Web. The new Small Business Center offers tips and resources for financing, staffing, professional services, government agencies, technology solutions and industry news.

The MCI Small Business Center also has a "point-to" capability, so it not only provides valuable direct information but helps "visitors" surf the Internet for other information and resources relevant to small business. The Small Business Center is accessed through MCI's home page on the World Wide Web at www.MCI.com.

"The Internet has almost unlimited information, but it can be difficult for newcomers to navigate," says Scott Ross, president of MCI Business Markets. "MCI is bringing original content to the Internet, AND we will also do the navigating for small-business people, to help them get to the right online information easily."

BUILDING ON-RAMPS FOR BETTER BUSINESS ACCESS TO THE `HIGHWAY'

The MCI-Gallup study revealed that small business owners aware of the Internet think it offers a number of business advantages, including:

o keeping abreast of trends/current thinking (68%),

o competitive research information (65%),

o purchasing products or services (60%),

o communicating via e-mail with customers, colleagues,

suppliers (60%),

o reaching new customers (51%).

Yet just 21 percent of even "Internet-savvy" small business owners are actually connected to it. Among all small business owners surveyed, 35 percent cited cost concerns and 25 percent think the technology is too complex. And 46 percent said they consider themselves to be "cyberphobic," or intimidated by the Information Superhighway(a).

To allay these concerns and open the Internet's resources to more small businesses, MCI is contacting 50,000 small and mid-sized American companies this week to offer Internet access software -- internetMCI -- free-of-charge to qualifying businesses.

"The Information Superhighway will mean something to American business only when enough `on-ramps' exist to make access more universal," says Ross, himself a former entrepreneur. "By waiving the software cost and providing technical support, we are bringing those on-ramps directly to America's small and mid-sized businesses." The free internetMCI software distribution builds on MCI's track record of providing Information Highway tools for business, with the introduction last year of its networkMCI BUSINESS software and, this year, of internetMCI and marketplaceMCI, an online Internet marketplace. All three will be demonstrated for small businesses at this week's White House Conference.

SENDING SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS TO CONGRESS

A sponsor of the White House Conference on Small Business, MCI is also donating the technology for electronic delegate voting on small business issues. MCI 800 AnswerNet technology makes electronic voting possible for the first time in the Conference's history.

Nearly 2,000 delegates will vote Wednesday, June 14, on key small business issues for an action plan to be submitted to the White House and Congress. MCI's AnswerNet system brings greater accuracy, faster results and increased security to the voting process. To vote, each delegate draws an individually coded card upon entering the voting phone-bank area. The access code must be entered prior to voting and may not be used again. The coded card is destroyed on-site once voting is completed.

"We're very pleased with the electronic voting technology which MCI has made possible for the delegates," says Mark Schultz, executive director for the White House Conference on Small Business. "At past Conferences, staffers hand-tallied the votes. This year, thanks to MCI, we will be able to release accurate voting results within two hours after the voting closes and ensure a secured process."

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, online information, electronic mail, network management services and communications software.

NOTE TO EDITORS: (a) In a 1994 MCI-Gallup survey, 32 percent of 600 white-collar

workers reported that they considered themselves cyberphobic.

CONTACT: MCI Business Markets

C. David Sutton, 800/644-NEWS

Paul Sims, 800/644-NEWS

[e-mail]