UUNet cancels stock offer
UUNet Technologies today withdrew its registration for a secondary offer of stock intended to fund new investments in fiber optic cable infrastructure, attributing the decision to AT&T's recent entry into the dial-up Internet access market.
The company filed its registration for more than 6 million shares of common stock on February 7, but less than three weeks later, AT&T announced its WorldNet service and threw the Net access market into a tizzy. Then MCI joined the party this week when it announced its Internet 2000 service.
UUNet officials said today that it will not compete head-on with either the new WorldNet or Internet 2000 services, both of which are aimed at home users, because UUNet access is marketed to businesses. But the entrance of the telcos into the market has caused the stock of Internet service providers to plunge and created what UUNet says is an unfavorable environment for its offer.
The company says it still plans to forge ahead, however, with plans to acquire significant undersea and European terrestrial fiber optic cable to increase the capacity of its services. The company is investigating several financing options, including long-term leases or new alliances with carriers.
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