WorldCom Network Troubles Result In Major Internet Delays

The disruptions reached beyond WorldCom customers. Its backbones carry a large portion of Internet traffic in the United States. Also, many smaller service providers use WorldCom as the primary means to connect their customers to the Internet.

WorldCom spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the problems began about 8 a.m. She said service to many customers had been restored by early afternoon, and technicians were working to restore others.

Technicians and vendors were investigating the cause of the disruptions, Baker said, refusing to elaborate.

She could not say how much of the network was disrupted, though others say the problem was widespread and not limited to specific locations, as is normally the case with Net outages.

Matrix NetSystems, a company that monitors Internet performance, said the glitch appeared to result from software at the exchange points where WorldCom meets other networks.

Tom Ohlsson, a Matrix vice president, said his monitors were seeing data packet losses of about 20 percent at those points _ compared to normal losses of 0.3 percent or less.

WorldCom runs one of the nation's largest backbone providers, UUNet. Backbones are the wires that carry Internet traffic between cities and even across continents.

WorldCom chief executive John Sidgmore has said that UUNet handles more than 50 percent of U.S. Internet traffic, including about 70 percent of all e-mails sent within the United States and half of e-mails sent in the world.

AT&T spokesman David Johnson said his and other carriers were having trouble handing off traffic to WorldCom. So, for instance, an AT&T customer could have trouble reaching a Web site that is hosted by a WorldCom customer.

'"The football is pretty much getting fumbled,' Johnson said. 'We and other carriers are putting the football up in the air. It's getting caught in the other end, but the guy isn't holding on to it or is not knowing what to do with it.'

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