MCI Worldcom to roll out unmetered Net access

MCI Worldcom is looking to introduce unmetered Net access as quickly as is possible following its decision to sign up to BT's controversial wholesale unmetered Net access product, Hybrid FRIACO.

Spokeswoman Angela Baker said: "We're delighted to have signed the deal and are looking at the commercial rollout as we speak.

"We're looking at a full range of commercial opportunities," she said.

News of MCI's decision was made public yesterday by BT as it tore into defunct ISP, AltaVista, for claiming its demise was due to the monster telco.

There is, of course, a delicious irony here. MCI Worldcom was one of the key players in getting Oftel to order BT to offer wholesale unmetered Net access to other operators.

MCI Worldcom challenged, and won, a ruling from the winged watchdog about BT's monopoly position.

The result was FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call Origination) which, it was assumed, would provide a wholesale unmetered Net access product to rival BT's SurfTime.

The snag, of course, is that what BT offered was not quite what people had hoped for. Hence, the arrival of son of FRIACO - a hotchpotch product comprising metered and unmetered access.

It's this that MCI Worldcom has said it will take - an uncapped, partly metered service that does not live up to the spirit of "wholesale unmetered Net access".

Question is, was it really worth all the bother? ®

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