No longer a David facing Goliath
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.NEW YORK - BT's chosen partner in its quest for world telecoms dominance, MCI, has taken just two decades to capture an 18 per cent share of America's dollars 60bn-a-year long-distance telephone market, writes Michael Marray.
Starting from scratch in the 1970s, MCI encountered fierce opposition and prolonged court battles with AT&T, then the monopoly provider of US long-distance telephone services. The bitter rivalry with AT&T still continues but, with 1992 revenues of dollars 10.6bn, MCI is no longer David versus AT&T's Goliath.
The BT-MCI joint venture signals a new phase of the battle to win the lucrative accounts of international companies wishing to link their offices around the world.
MCI has already made some inroads into this sector and recently announced a deal under which it will link the worldwide trading rooms of JP Morgan, the US bank, with voice and data communications.
AT&T is working along similar lines and last week announced the formation of a global network for business communications with KDD of Japan and Singapore Telecom, with likely alliances in Europe to be added later.
This network, known as Worldsource, will provide one-stop shopping for multinationals, which can have their billing drawn up in the counEtry, language and currency of their choice.
Although primTHER write errorarily aimed at the international market, the alliance with BT will also give MCI added strength at home, where the telecommunications industry is in a state of flux.
Cable TV companies are joining telephone firms to sell voice and video interactive services down the same lines, and competition to win domestic long distance business is cut- throat.
The infusion of new capital from BT will give MCI the financial strength for opportunities in multimedia, as well as spurring its international growth.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
0Comments