MCI WorldCom Makes $3.5 Million Payment for Slamming

In a sign of increasing FCC enforcement activity, MCI WorldCom has agreed to a $3.5 million "voluntary contribution” to the U.S. Treasury and has entered into a consent agreement with the Commission in order to settle a slamming complaint. The agreement terminates a Commission investigation into slamming by MCI WorldCom and, according to the FCC, represents the largest slamming payment ever made.

The consent agreement also requires MCI WorldCom to take "major actions to deter slamming,” including a revamped slamming prevention program and a program that extends credits to customers who say they've been slammed.

The consent agreement follows five other recent slamming enforcement actions by the agency in the last four months – actions that have now netted the agency more than $8 million in "voluntary contributions.”