What name did the 1998 merger of WorldCom and MCI initially create?

The 1998 merger of WorldCom and MCI initially created the company MCI WorldCom.

WorldCom agreed to acquire MCI in 1997, and the transaction was completed in 1998. The combination united WorldCom, a rapidly expanding telecommunications company, with MCI, one of the United States’ best-known long-distance and internet-service providers. The merged company adopted the MCI WorldCom name.

The company later dropped “MCI” and became WorldCom in 2000. It subsequently became infamous for a major accounting scandal, entered bankruptcy in 2002, and emerged as MCI in 2004. Verizon acquired the reorganized MCI in 2006.

The name can be confused with MCI Communications, the earlier company that built the MCI brand, or with WorldCom, the later corporate identity. The question refers specifically to the name used immediately after the two companies’ 1998 merger.