In a busy day yesterday, IBM Corp announced the formation of the IBM Global Network, which will be dedicated to turning IBM’s computer networks into an Internet-like network for corporations: the new unit will develop and operate a high speed voice and data network where people can use many services, from Electronic Data Interchange to watching a movie and will be built on the Advantis corporate network developed by IBM and Sears Roebuck & Co, the IBM Information Network worldwide, and the wholly-owned subsidiaries worldwide that provide value-added services; IBM says that the resulting organisation and networking infrastructure will have presence in over 700 cities worldwide and over 5,000 professionals providing a full range of networking services to 23,000 companies in 94 countries – and IBM tapped John Whiteside previously MCI Communications Corp’s senior vice-president, global alliance management to head the thing; the IBM Global Network will be the business person’s Internet, Whiteside said, all of which leaves people wondering if, when the company planned to offer such network services to third parties, it should hand a lot of its own networking business over to British Telecommunications Plc and the Eunetcom Franco-German venture.
