WorldCom unit raising rates

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Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 9:33 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss -- MCI Group, the nation's second-largest long-distance company, will raise rates sharply on some calling plans starting next month as a way to steer customers to its more lucrative calling packages.

A spokeswoman for MCI parent WorldCom, Claire Hassett, said the price increase, which raises some per-minute rates to 9 cents from 5 cents, affects only a small percentage of MCI's 20 million customers and is designed to remain level with the rest of the industry. She declined to say what portion of customers would see the increases.

The rate hike defies predictions by MCI's competitors that WorldCom, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July amid an accounting scandal, would slash prices in an already depressed telecommunications market if it's allowed to emerge from bankruptcy.