Update: SBC Announces Deals to Increase Net Presence

The company will open a Net data center, invest in a Web firm and participate in an e-commerce alliance.

Author:: Tim Arango
Publish date:: Jul 24, 2000 5:32 PM EDT

The company will open a Net data center, invest in a Web firm and participate in an e-commerce alliance.

Updated from 1:40 p.m.

SBC Communications

(SBC)

announced a series of moves Monday designed to give the large telecommunications company a higher profile on the Internet.

The San Antonio, Texas-based company said it will open its first Internet data center, which will store Internet systems for its business customers. The center will cost $50 million to create and will be powered by equipment from

Cisco

(CSCO) - Get Report

. It is set to open July 31 in Dallas.

At the same time, SBC invested $100 million to buy a controlling interest in

InQuent

, the parent company of

WebHosting.com

. Through WebHosting.com, SBC will begin offering customers hosted Microsoft Exchange 2000 in coming months.

And finally, the company announced a strategic e-business alliance between its

Sterling Commerce

and

Commerce One

(CMRC)

, a deal that will combine Commerce One's e-commerce services with Sterling's expertise in e-marketplace development and e-business consulting, SBC said.

The moves were first reported Monday in

The New York Times

Investors gave a yawn to the news, with SBC finishing Monday regular trading up slightly 3/16, or 0.4% at 43 3/16.