US giant MCI WorldCom has launched its corporate Internet subsidiary Uunet in Hong Kong, as part of a US$6.5 billion global expansion plan.
'We intend to be one of the three largest ISPs [Internet service providers] in Hong Kong,' said John Sidgmore, Uunet president and MCI WorldCom vice-chairman.
Uunet hopes to sell infrastructure, or bandwidth, to 'wholesale' customers such as ISPs, and is also offering Internet services - such as leased lines - to businesses.
This would put Uunet in competition with corporate ISP Linkage Online and Hongkong Telecom's NetPlus, which have nearly 2,000 business customers combined.
Virginia-based Uunet is one of the United States' largest suppliers of corporate Internet services.
Its parent company, MCI WorldCom, is the second-biggest long-distance phone company in the US and has said it plans to spend about $3 billion on Internet infrastructure and other international investments.
