Gemini is a joint venture between Worldcom and Cable & Wireless. Worldcom was formed when Metropolitan Fibre Systems (MFS) and Worldcom merged at the end of 1996. MFS, the original partner in Gemini, was mainly in the business of providing fibre-based communication services to the financial communities in major city centres. In conjunction with Alcatel, MFS had cabled up much of Paris (via the sewers) in a 12-month period between May 1995, when MFS obtained a license for this, and May 1996, when the first customers were connected. Worldcom used to be the fourth largest long-distance phone company in the USA (after AT&T, Sprint and MCI), but it is now in the final stage of taking over MCI, which will significantly increase its market share. It has announced that it intends to build and operate a pan-European fibre optic infrastructure named Ulysses, linking all major cities. First elements of this, covering parts of the UK, Belgium, Holland and Germany, are already operational.