Adelphia Communications, the cable television operator, and more than 200 of its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in Manhattan after a month of struggling to find an alternative.

WorldCom overstated its cash flow by more than $3.8B during the last five quarters in what appears to be one of the largest cases of false corporate bookkeeping yet.

The problem, discovered during an internal audit, throws into doubt the survival of WorldCom and MCI.

Analysts see bankruptcy as a strong possibility; trying to avoid that, WorldCom will cut 17,000 employees. "The company has made a few giant leaps toward bankruptcy. For a company with $30B in debt [and] a sector deteriorating from competition ... it's not looking good."

Operating costs like basic network maintenance had been booked as capital investments. CEO: "Our senior management team is shocked by these discoveries." SEC: "accounting improprieties of unprecedented magnitude." Analyst: "This is horrible for the industry."

Analyst: "I would be stunned if [the restatement doesn't] trigger bankruptcy. I am almost certain it will. The math doesn't even work anymore."

The epic bankruptcy saga of KPNQwest became still more entangled on Monday as banks joined the clamor for an investigation of the service provider's accounts.

It was inevitable. After more than a month of trying to stave off filing for bankruptcy protection, Adelphia is expected to succumb today to its fate.

Is Richard C. Notebaert the right man for the job at Qwest Communications International? And just what is that job, anyway?

Analyst: "Reading between the lines, the board's strategy is to sell the company."

Qwest has described its 190,000 miles of fiber networks as the envy of the industry, enabling it to offer unmatched voice and data packages to customers.

But much of that network is underused. Qwest has to offer discounts of 50 percent or more ...

The turmoil continues in telecommunications, making the long-awaited turnaround increasingly difficult to call. Indeed, in light of a wave of bad news last week and through the weekend, some analysts say the industry's problems could actually become worse before they become better.

Joe Nacchio leaves Qwest; XO files for bankruptcy; Lucent's sales decline 15% in a single quarter; Sprint's debt is nearly junk.

Analyst: "I foresee a near total collapse as the endgame."

Another: "The magnitude of the problem is enormous." 24 of 29 top US telecom companies that have not yet filed for bankruptcy are at risk of doing so in coming months.

Joseph P. Nacchio, the chairman and chief executive of Qwest Communications International, was forced to resign last night by the company's board, executives involved in the decision said.

Nacchio, who has been criticized for often being combative with the company's shareholders, is the latest chief executive of a large corporation to resign amid questions over accounting practices and corporate governance procedures.

Nacchio: "After criss-crossing the globe for five and one-half grueling years to build Qwest, living in two different cities, and having achieved our major goals, I have expressed my desire to spend more time with my family and pursue other opportunities."

Shares of Qwest marched higher in pre-open trading on Monday. Shares crossed at $4.30 in London, and were last around $4.22 in Frankfurt, building on a $4.15 close.

Adelphia's bonds have fallen to trade at less than half their face value, as investors grow convinced the embattled cable TV provider could be worth even less in a bankruptcy than they had previously thought.

And analysts believe a bankruptcy filing could be near.

As Adelphia shares, once worth $87, trade for pennies, the bonds have lost nearly one-third of their value this week, after the No. 6 US cable TV operator on Monday said it overstated cash flow by nearly 15% for each of the last two years -- by $210 million in 2001 and $160 million in 2000.

Faced with declining orders from major North American telecommunications companies for its switches and other equipment, Lucent warned yesterday that its revenue in the current quarter would decline as much as 15% from the previous three months.

Under revised credit terms, Lucent can draw on its credit line if it loses no more than $325M in the July quarter, or $300M in the quarter starting Oct. 1.

Complications mounted yesterday for the embattled cable company Adelphia Communications, as one of its units (Century Communications) filed for bankruptcy protection, two newly appointed Adelphia directors resigned (including Leonard Tow) and the company filed documents showing it had overstated revenue and cash flow for the last two years.