UUNet's new service was jointly developed by Internet access provider Open Port Technology and Ascend Communications, Inc. It will let users send faxes over UUNet's Internet network, rather than a voice-based telephone network. UUNet will deploy its UUFax service -- which will let businesses combine desktop, electronic-mail and stand-alone fax traffic through one common Internet connection -- by installing more than 100 specialized fax servers in Internet hubs throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. Administrators can use the system's reports to study fax traffic and usage; they can also track the status of faxes at any time. The service is now in beta testing. It will be available in the fourth quarter, which is also when final pricing will be announced. The service will require a UUNet Internet connection, a telephone redialer, which costs approximately $100, and special software.

John Sidgmore, UUNet's CEO, said business users will see savings of 35% or more for U.S.-based faxes and 50% or more for faxes sent to Europe. "Faxing is the next killer Internet application," Sidgmore said. "We see a whole new world forming with new opportunities caused by [telephone] deregulation and the Internet."

Randy Storch, chairman and CEO of Open Port, said the service will be successful if it garners only a small portion of business fax traffic. "With global fax transmissions starting to edge toward $100 billion a year, even if we can gain 1% of that market, we'll do well," Storch said. UUNet's business customer base should make that a reasonable proposition, Storch added.

"This is an interesting idea for a market that isn't going away," said Melanie Posey, a senior analyst at International Data Corp. in New York. "The beauty of this kind of application is that business users can easily understand it and be sold on it. There's a lot of room in this market, and UUNet and Open Port are some of the first in it."