<s>
MCI	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
Corp	I-Application
.	O
(	O
originally	O
Microwave	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
,	I-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	I-Application
)	O
was	O
a	O
telecommunications	O
company	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Washington	O
,	O
D.C.	O
that	O
was	O
at	O
one	O
point	O
the	O
second-largest	O
long-distance	O
provider	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
MCI	O
Mail	O
,	O
launched	O
in	O
1983	O
,	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
Email	O
services	O
and	O
its	O
MCI.net	O
was	O
an	O
integral	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	B-General_Concept
backbone	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
WorldCom	O
(	O
later	O
called	O
MCI	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	O
)	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MCI	O
was	O
founded	O
as	O
Microwave	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
,	I-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	I-Application
on	O
October	O
3	O
,	O
1963	O
,	O
with	O
John	O
D	O
.	O
Goeken	O
being	O
named	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
first	O
president	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microwave	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
of	I-Application
America	I-Application
,	O
Inc	O
(	O
MICOM	O
)	O
was	O
incorporated	O
on	O
August	O
8	O
,	O
1968	O
as	O
an	O
umbrella	O
corporation	O
to	O
help	O
build	O
a	O
nationwide	O
microwave	O
relay	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1971	O
,	O
MICOM	O
was	O
restructured	O
into	O
MCI	B-Application
Communications	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
company	O
began	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
absorbing	O
the	O
regional	O
carriers	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
27	O
,	O
1983	O
,	O
an	O
MCI	O
division	O
led	O
by	O
Vint	O
Cerf	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
the	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
,	O
launched	O
MCI	O
Mail	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
email	O
services	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
data	O
network	O
using	O
the	O
CCITT	O
X.25	B-Protocol
packet	O
switching	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1984	O
,	O
MCI	O
became	O
the	O
first	O
company	O
to	O
deploy	O
single-mode	B-Device
optical	I-Device
fiber	I-Device
(	O
the	O
standard	O
had	O
been	O
multi-mode	B-Device
optical	I-Device
fiber	I-Device
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
manufactured	O
by	O
Siecor	O
,	O
a	O
joint	O
venture	O
between	O
Siemens	O
Telecom	O
and	O
Corning	O
Glass	O
Company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
single-mode	B-Device
fiber	I-Device
became	O
the	O
standard	O
for	O
US	O
telecommunications	O
carriers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
network	O
used	O
the	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
that	O
had	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
ARPANet	O
and	O
was	O
the	O
immediate	O
forerunner	O
to	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
,	O
Vint	O
Cerf	O
was	O
working	O
at	O
CNRI	O
and	O
obtained	O
support	O
from	O
MCI	O
and	O
permission	O
from	O
the	O
Federal	B-Protocol
Networking	I-Protocol
Council	I-Protocol
to	O
interconnect	O
MCI	O
Mail	O
with	O
the	O
NSFNET	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NSF	O
also	O
proposed	O
that	O
an	O
academic	O
research	O
network	O
be	O
built	O
called	O
the	O
Very	O
high-speed	O
Backbone	B-General_Concept
Network	O
Service	O
(	O
vBNS	O
)	O
and	O
MCI	O
responded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MCI	O
also	O
built	O
a	O
separate	O
commercial	O
Internet	O
service	O
,	O
MCI.net,	O
which	O
was	O
an	O
integral	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
global	O
Internet	B-General_Concept
backbone	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
acquired	O
Telecom*USA	O
and	O
became	O
the	O
second-largest	O
telecommunications	O
company	O
in	O
the	O
U.S.	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
fiber-optic	B-Application
network	I-Application
spanning	O
more	O
than	O
46,000	O
miles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1997	O
,	O
GTE	O
,	O
now	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
Verizon	B-Application
,	O
made	O
a	O
bid	O
to	O
purchase	O
MCI	O
for	O
$28	O
billion	O
in	O
cash	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
a	O
major	O
accounting	O
scandal	O
,	O
WorldCom	O
filed	O
bankruptcy	O
in	O
2002	O
and	O
the	O
company	O
was	O
renamed	O
MCI	B-Application
Inc	I-Application
.	O
upon	O
its	O
exit	O
from	O
bankruptcy	O
in	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
