
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 13, 1994                   TAG: 9409140009
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

MCI TO SELL SOFTWARE FOR PCS

MCI Communications Corp., the nation's second-largest long distance company, on Monday jumped into the software business, another sign of the growing importance of the personal computer as a communication device.

The company next month will begin selling communication software from six other firms under the ``networkMCI'' brand name. It has already started advertising the product in a serial TV ad campaign set in a fictional publishing house.

The product, called ``networkMCI Business'' includes fax, electronic mail, work collaboration, electronic marketing and customized news programs. By the end of the year, it likely will also have a program to access the Internet.

MCI will charge $50 per month per person for the product, a price its executives said is below what many people spend each month for on-line services such as America Online or CompuServe. Installation is $100, and there is a $110 monthly charge for optional video conferencing equipment.

The company also may create a similar product for consumers to use at home, said Doug Maine, MCI's chief financial officer.

The move gives MCI another product to sell to businesses that don't use its long-distance service. And it at last brings substance to the ``networkMCI'' vision touted for six months in ethereal TV ads.

by CNB