New Study Shows Cable & Wireless Lags in GlobalIntranet Services.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 1999--Publications Resource Group, Inc., (PRG) a leading telecom information retailer, would like to announce a recent update to the World Data Networks study by BRC Consultancy, Ltd., one of over 175 consulting firms represented by PRG.

WHY

Cable & Wireless has fallen behind in the provision of Global Intranet Services, compared to its competitors. Cable & Wireless claims to build Intranets depending on corporate requirements but does not yet offer any standard global package for IP connectivity, hosting or other more sophisticated applications.

Competitors such as Equant, IBM, Infonet and Global One are offering IP connectivity between customer sites. Some have gone a step further and are offering virtual private networks using the Internet infrastructure. Among them are Concert, Infonet and MCI WorldCom (through UUNET). Some go beyond simple connectivity to define Intranet services involving hosting and applications (see table).

This update to the World Data Networks report, released in December 1998, compares the latest ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), IP (Internet Protocol) and Intranet services of the world's global suppliers. It also describes the latest versions of their traditional services and gives details of their expansion plans.

Generally all suppliers claim to offer IP services but in essence what most are offering is Internet Access. David McCron, the report's publisher, says "World Data Networks gives network users a true grasp of what is on offer from the network suppliers, without going through the pain of a full-blown tendering process." McCron adds "Prospective network buyers are risking a lot without having the data in World Data Networks to support them."

Notes for editors

World Data Networks written by BRC Consultancy, Ltd. has been published every year since 1991 and has grown to over 300 pages in length. It costs $1,500.00, or $2,250.000 including two updates throughout the year. It can also be purchased electronically. Call for pricing details.

The report is unique in detailing the specifics of world-wide Internet, Intranet, ATM, frame relay, E-commerce and packet services. It covers the services of Cable & Wireless, Concert, Equant, GE Information Services, Global One, IBM Global Services, Infonet, WorldCom and WorldPartners. World Data Networks is bought by multinational companies and global network service providers, world-wide.

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Comparison of Intranet Services

             Equant           Global One        IBM Global Services

Key          IP connectivity  IP connectivity   Combination of the
features     and access to    and access to     MPN service providing
             corporate        coporate          wide connectivity, IBM
             intranets.       intranets.        InternetConnection
                                                service providing
                                                access to internet
                                                applications and IBM
                                                Content Hosting
                                                providing Web site
                                                hosting.


Structure    Global IP        Global IP         The Multiprotocol
of the IP    network, IPNET,  network.          Network service and
network      developed                          dial up service
platform     jointly between                    infrastructure.
used         Equant and GTE
             internetworking.


Direct       Access via       Access via        Leased line access to
connection   Equant's X.25    Global One's      the MPN network.
services     and frame relay  frame relay
(using       or direct        service.          Speed of multiprotocol
leased       access to the                      access is up to
line         IP network.      Up to 1.5Mbit/s   45Mbit/s in North
access):                      in North          America, 2Mbit/s in
structure,   Up to 1.5Mbit/s  America, 2Mbit/s  Europe and Asia
speed and    in North         elsewhere.        Pacific, 256 kbit/s
cover        America and                        elsewhere.
             2Mbit/s          Available in
             elsewhere.       over 40           Leased line access
                              countries.        a vailable in over 50
             Available in                       countries.
             over 100
             countries.


Dial-in      PPP Dial Access  Remote Dial       The IP remote access
connection:  to intranet web  Access Service    service provides
structure,   sites.           provides dial-in  access to TCP/IP
analogue                      access. It        applications on
speed and    Up to            interfaces to     intranets.
cover        33.6kbit/s       Global IP
(ISDN        (Public          network and       Speed of access is up
access is    Telephone        Global Frame      to 56kbit/s in North
also         Network),        Relay network.    America, Europe and
available)   64kbit/s (ISDN)                    Asia Pacific and up to
                              Up to 33.6kbit/s  33.6kbit/s elsewhere.
             Available in     (Public
             over 100         Telephone         Available from over
             countries.       Network),         1300 points of
                              64kbit/s (ISDN).  presence in over 50
                                                countries.
                              Available from
                              over 820 cities
                              in 60 countries.


Application  Application      Consulting,       Range of software
Hosting      hosting (Lotus   service design    services are available.
and          notes and        and integration.
Integration  Domino           Global Intranet
             applications)    can provide
             is available     software tools
             through          for
             partner,         cross-functional
             Interliant.      work group
                              collaboration
                              and file sharing.



                       Infonet           MCI WorldCom (UUNET)

Key                    Customized           Customized
features               intranet             intranet
                       solution.            solutions
                                            integrating with
                                            existing
                                            customer data.


Structure              Global IP            UUNet's IP
of the IP              network.             network and MCI
network                                     WorldCom network
platform                                    as appropriate.
used


Direct                 Leased line          Can use whole
connection             access to the IP     MCI WorldCom and
services               network.             UUNet
(using                 infrastructure.
leased                 Up to 2Mbit/s is
line                   available.           Up to 155Mbit/s
access):                                    in North America
structure,             Available in         and 34Mbit/s in
speed and              over 40              Europe. Lower
cover                  countries.           speeds available
                                            in the Asia
                                            Pacific.



Dial-in                Dial-in access       Speeds at
connection:            is available.        28.8kbit/s and
structure,                                  above.
analogue               Up to 56kbit/s.
speed and                                   Available at
cover                  Available in         1000 points of
(ISDN                  over 40              presence in 15
access is              countries.            countries across
also                                        North America,
available)                                  Europe and the
                                            Asia Pacific.


Application            Infonet Software     UUNet's full
Hosting                Solutions'           solution brings
and                    NOTICE Forum         the entire
Integration            service provides     stnternal
                       Exch integrates with      environment.
                       other web-based      Legacy systems
                       applications.        and existing
                                            databases can be
                                            integrated into the
                                            intranet.


EDITOR'S NOTE: To view a cleaner, HTML version of the above table,
please connect to http://www.prgguide.com/wdn

Publications Resource Group, Inc. (PRG), is a marketing and sales firm representing over 175 technical publishers and consulting firms. For more information regarding this article or to place an order for the study, contact Doug Peterson at (413) 664-6185 (voice) or email: doug@prgguide.com