WorldCom Faces Service Outages in Europe

WorldCom (WCOME Quote) has stiffed its European telco partners on an estimated $1 billion tab and now faces service interruptions for some of its international calls, according to a company insider familiar with the situation.

A WorldCom spokesman said Wednesday that the company is "working through some invoicing issues" with some overseas telcos, and was confident the companies "will work together" to maintain service. The names of the partners wasn't immediately available.

The news comes as investors continue to fixate on the question of whether WorldCom can stay out of bankruptcy in the wake of massive accounting irregularities unveiled late last month. The stock has plunged 99% this year as WorldCom has endured a slowdown in its business that exacerbated cash-flow issues caused by its heavy debt load. Wall Street has lost confidence in the big telco amid a series of management changes, earnings shortfalls and investigations of its accounting and business practices. ...