NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - WorldCom Wireless, part of bankrupt telecom WorldCom Inc., will close by the end of September. WorldCom, which currently resells the cellular telephone services of other companies, says it will recommend to its customers that they allow their accounts to be transferred to the underlying cellular service provider.
WorldCom Wireless currently purchases cellular telephone services from AT&T Wireless Services, Verizon Wireless, AllTel Corp. and one other company at wholesale rates and sells those services to its customers. (WorldCom declined to identify the fourth wireless company at that company's request.) WorldCom customers will be offered the option of paying for those services directly from the original provider.
WorldCom customers who accept the transfer may find themselves with a different cellular service pricing plan than they had with WorldCom. Staying with WorldCom Wireless will not be an option, so customers will have to decide whether to accept the plan they're offered or shop around for an entirely new cellular service provider. Customers will be allowed to cancel their contract rather than having it transferred without paying a penalty.
Some of the providers to which WorldCom will be transferring customers said they would continue to provide the same pricing plans WorldCom did. Others weren't so sure.
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AllTel, which provides cellular service to about 20,000 WorldCom customers, said terms, conditions and prices will not change after a transfer.
"Things should stay the same," said Andrew Moreau, director of corporate communications for AllTel. "We'll honor customers' service agreements as they were."
AT&T Wireless may not change rates or terms of service either, said Rich Blasi, an AT&T Wireless spokesman who said things should "pretty much stay the same."
Verizon Wireless, on the other hand, offers no promise of identical rates or service terms.
"Customers transferring over to us would have to take one of our price plans, and those are different," said Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace. "It's unlikely that any carrier involved will offer the same price points and service plans WorldCom originally offered. WorldCom, after all, was competing with us. Basic structure might be the same, but some elements will be different."
Jumping ship?
During the first two weeks of August, WorldCom customers will receive letters which will contain full details and deadlines for making a decision, said Les Kumagai, a WorldCom spokesman.
"It's a competitive market," Kumagai said. "We recommend that they transfer, but they don't have to."
Sam Simon, a spokesman for the Telecommunications Research and Action Center, a consumer advocacy group, recommends that customers double-check the WorldCom Wireless bills before the transfer to make sure they're being billed correctly now.
With contracts in limbo, Simon added that consumers should evaluate their cellular telephone plans carefully.
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