NTT Data, MCI, BT to offer global Net access for travelers

NTT Data Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and British Telecom PLC will jointly offer a new Internet Dial Roaming Service to give their subscribers easy local access to their Internet accounts while traveling abroad, the three companies said April 10.

The service, to be officially launched in July, will first be available in Japan and the United States. Business people who want to access the Internet will no longer need to contract with a local Internet service provider when they travel to these countries, they said.

For example, an NTT Data customer can access more than 300 local access points provided by MCI in the United States with the same account number, said Tomeo Kanbayashi, CEO of NTT Data. In a similar manner, MCI customers will be able to use NTT Data's 60 access points in Japan when they travel here, they said.