WASHINGTON, July 19: Embattled telecom giant WorldCom plans to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as this weekend in what would become the largest corporate collapse in US history, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper said the filing by the nation’s second-largest long-distance telephone service provider would not likely have any immediate effect on the 20 million consumers and thousands of corporations that use its voice and data services.

WorldCom also handles up to an estimated 50 per cent of the nation’s Internet traffic, according to the report.

Under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, a company continues to operate while it works out a plan to pay its debts.

WorldCom admitted last month that it had improperly accounted for 3.9 billion dollars in operating expenses to hide losses and said it would have to restate its financial results.

According to The Journal, WorldCom currently has between 600 million dollars and 700 million dollars in cash, but roughly 250 million is controlled by its overseas operations.

The company stated at the end of March that it had 103.8 billion dollars in assets, although analysts are skeptical about the figure, the report said. WorldCom’s stated debt stands at 32.8 billion dollars.—AFP