Global Schoolhouse- SprintLink

SPRINT EXPANDS INTERNET VIDEOCONFERENCING & INTERNET CONNECTIONS TO 12 COUNTRIES; -- Connects Students in NSF Global Schoolhouse Program --

WASHINGTON (APRIL 28,1993) PR NEWSWIRE - In conjunction with a live demonstration oof new Internet videoconferencing capabilities, Sprint (NYSE: FON) today announced the expansion of its SprintLink Internet service through connections between the National Science Foundation's U.S. computer communications network (NSFNet) -- and scientific research networks in Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The Internet is a global "network of networks" that reaches over 10 million people in 127 countries. The NSFNet, which links regional networks that interconnect over 1,800 academic and research networks in the United States, is a major component of the Internet.

Over the last two years, Sprint has led in expanding Internet access and today offers the most extensive Internet interconnection service in the world. In 1991, Sprint was the first carrier to provide a managed network linking the NSFNet with other Internet networks, providing connectivity with all major - federal networks including the NASA Science Internet and the Energy Sciences Network (ESNet).

Last year, Sprint continued its leadership by being the first carrier to extend the TCP/IP (the Internet protocol) service to commercial customers under the name SprintLink. The company is also a member of the Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) which provides an interconnection point for most commercial U.S. and several foreign Internet service providers.

Sprint plans to announce additional Internet connections with networks in Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as additional connectivity in Japan and the United Kingdom, throughout this year.

Sprint Services for the NSF Global Schoolhouse Project Students in the United States and United Kingdom participating in the NSF "Global Schoolhouse" project today used Sprint's growing Internet infrastructure to exchange environmental information in an event recognizing National Science and Technology Week (April 26 - May 1).

Today's demonstration of Internet videoconferencing, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, enabled fifth through eighth grade students in Virginia, California, Tennessee and the United Kingdom to discuss the results of a six-week course on the environment which included reading Vice President Gore's book, "Earth in the Balance." Students shared the results of a study of ground water pollution with one other -- and with national leaders in Washington -- using the Internet and personal computers specially equipped with videoconferencing capabilities.

The Global Schoolhouse Project demonstrates how networks sponsored by the government, such as the NSFNet, integrate easily and seamlessly with commercial networks, such as SprintLink, to form a national information infrastructure. Sprint has been a strong advocate of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), an initiative of the Clinton administration which seeks to extend the interconnection of commercial high-speed networks with private networks operated by the federal government in order to increase American technological competitiveness.

"The NSF Global Schoolhouse project is an outstanding example of how available technologies in the private and public sectors can be coupled to advance learning," Rooney noted. "On a larger scale, the Internet can be used to marshal the vast resources of the world's leading edge research and development computers to advance developments in such fields as health care, manufacturing and the environment."

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ANY OPINIONS OR REPRESENTATIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT ARE THOSE OF SPRINT AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.

Contacts: Janis Langley, (O) 202-828-7427; (H) 703-533-3322 Evette Fulton, (O) 202-828-7411; (H) 301-230-0978