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The reorganization plan would leave MCI (Other OTC:MCWEQ.PK - News; Other OTC:WCOEQ.PK - News) with roughly 10 percent of its previous $41 billion debt load and give creditors, such as distressed debt investor David Matlin, sizable ownership stakes in the new, slimmed-down company.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez had said he aimed to release his decision by noon on Friday, but a bankruptcy court filing said the decision would be released before the end of the business day.

MCI, whose legal name is WorldCom Inc., filed the world's largest bankruptcy in July 2002, amid an accounting scandal that ballooned to $11 billion. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of the year.

The Ashburn, Virginia, company, whose former management is under criminal investigation, still must restate its financial results before being able to trade its new shares publicly.

MCI also faces a probe by the U.S. attorney in New York and federal regulators to determine whether it improperly routed telephone calls to avoid paying expensive connection charges and a lawsuit by rival AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - News) seeking damages over the routing of calls.

Once MCI emerges from bankruptcy, its focus will shift to strengthening revenues and profit margins as it tries to attract a takeover offer, analysts said.

Although some rivals had contended that MCI's lower debt load would allow it to slash prices and more nimbly fight for market share, analysts dismissed those fears.

MCI Chairman Michael "Capellas has had two jobs. One was to get them out of bankruptcy and No. 2 was to monetize this company and enhance its valuation as much as possible, so he'll be rational on pricing," said Guzman & Co. analyst Patrick Comack (News) .

"They need to keep their customer base for the new owners, but they need to be profitable for the bondholders, some of which are on board. The bondholders might say 'Let unprofitable customers go,"' Comack said.

MCI will be more focused on winning customers' trust by emphasizing its new management team, new technology and services, than by hawking products at deep discounts, analysts said.

"I think we have seen the period of aggressive pricing to gain market share behind us. The No. 1 thing MCI has to overcome is the trust issue. Clients want to make sure that when they do business with MCI that they are going to be around," said Gartner Group analyst Ken McGee. "We just are not going to see the same price slashing that we saw in the late 90s."

AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - News) also had argued that MCI should have been liquidated and that the bankruptcy reorganization process let the company escape from its accounting scandal without severe punishment.