CLINTON, MISS. - WorldCom  is expecting to be released from the business world's intensive care unit - Chapter 11 bankruptcy - sometime this summer.

The prognosis remains guarded, at best. More alarming to some is the peaked appearance of customers who continue to question the carrier's long-term health and competitors that fear a suddenly debt-free WorldCom might be tempted to spark a price war.

The good news is that WorldCom has managed to largely maintain prebankruptcy levels of network performance, according to customers and industry watchers, despite having to trim more than 10,000 employees from its payroll.

However, a number of recent developments do little to allay overall concerns:

• About 30% of CTOs Merrill Lynch surveyed recently say they do not intend to renew their contracts with WorldCom because of the company's financial situation. Moreover, internal sales data revealed earlier this year on an unauthorized Web site painted a grim picture of the company's inability to win a significant amount of new business in the latter half of 2002.

• WorldCom recently erased almost $80 billion worth of good-will assets from its already battered books, a move that experts say will help the company's balance sheet once it emerges from bankruptcy, but only adds to the perception that there's little left of what was once an industry giant.

• The company's profit margins are reportedly down to 13% while it operates under protection from creditors, raising questions about its ability to invest in infrastructure and new services. Competitors AT&T and Sprint maintain margins of about 20%.

While WorldCom is in the midst of its bankruptcy proceedings it is not required to file the same detailed financial reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission as its competitors. This leaves the industry to question whether the carrier is bringing in enough cash to invest in its network and new services.

WorldCom filed its latest monthly operating report last week, and it showed a net profit of $155 million for the month of January, compared with a net loss of $580 million in December. However, sales of $2.16 billion were down slightly from $2.2 billion.

"Our three-year plan will clearly outline our [profit] margins and where we're headed with the company when it's presented in early April," says Ron McMurtrie, vice president of global marketing at WorldCom. The carrier is expected to file its reorganization plan April 15.

One financial analyst says concerns over profit margins should fade once the carrier emerges from bankruptcy.

"WorldCom's lack of debt gives it ample cushion in this instance," says Vik Grover, managing director of equity research at Kaufman Bros. Whether WorldCom's debt-free cushion is fair is debatable, but Wall Street will view the carrier in a more positive light anyway.

"But the company will not grow at the rate it had prior to bankruptcy," says another financial analyst, who requested anonymity. "WorldCom is still in contraction mode. It has a big job ahead to build up its brand name and trust with users."

While the future holds many questions for the company, a scandal-filled past continues to haunt it. When WorldCom CEO Michael Capellas announced his 100-day plan in January, he said the company's board would conduct a review of events involving WorldCom's financial improprieties. Additional employees would leave WorldCom based on that review and the company's new zero-tolerance policy, he said.