CLINTON, Miss. -- WorldCom (WCOEQ), the leading global business data and Internet communications provider, today unveiled The WorldCom Connection(SM), the company's new flagship converged voice and data product offering for business customers. This dynamic new service consolidates local, long distance and data services over one network from one provider, significantly simplifying network management, billing, and support. Furthermore, The WorldCom Connection breaks traditional industry pricing models by offering U.S. businesses flat rate pricing for local and long distance voice, and simplified data pricing. Available now, The WorldCom Connection is an IP-based service that operates across any WorldCom-provided network architecture including Frame Relay, ATM or IP. The service is scalable to meet the needs of any size company -- from a small/remote business location to the largest corporate campus environment. For all of these firms, the new service reduces network management costs, IT staffing demands, overall capital expense and the risk of obsolescence. All businesses can consolidate long distance voice and data over The WorldCom Connection; those located within a WorldCom local service area can also integrate their local voice traffic. "The WorldCom Connection delivers much more than integrated local, long distance, and data over IP," said Frank Grillo, senior vice president of Business Marketing for WorldCom. "It enables cost-efficient use of a company's access facilities, simplifies pricing and offers new communications features that not only benefit companies today, but also pave a logical migration path toward new communications technologies in the future." In addition to traditional voice services, The WorldCom Connection enables customers to add exciting new communications features to enhance the way they conduct business. For example, through WorldCom's network-based voicemail, customers can retrieve their voicemail anywhere, anytime in various forms. Customers can download messages as MP3 audio file attachments through a Web interface or they can direct their voicemail messages to an email address. Eventually, WorldCom Connection customers will be able to set up instant audio or videoconferences with the simple click of a mouse. WorldCom Inc.