Mci, Worldcom Earn Final Ok For Merger

WorldCom’s takeover of MCI Communications Corp., won approval from federal regulators Monday, removing the last hurdle to one of the nation’s biggest telecommunications mergers.

The companies promptly closed the $37 billion deal after receiving Federal Communications Commission approval, officials said.

MCI already is the nation’s second-largest long-distance company, behind AT&T, and would remain so after the merger with No. 4 WorldCom Inc. of Jackson, Miss.

Still, the new company, called MCI WorldCom, would be a behemoth selling a full range of services - from local and longdistance to Internet connections - to 22 million customers in more than 200 countries.

For customers, the deal is likely to speed the advent of all-in-one packages of telecommunications services, ranging from long-distance and local telephone to Internet access, on a single monthly bill.

U.S. and Europeans antitrust regulators had approved the deal in July on condition Washington-based MCI sell all its Internet business. MCI also completed the $1.75 billion sale to London-based Cable & Wireless PLC.

The FCC also conditioned its approval on the sale of MCI’s Internet business.