text: MCI to Take \$3.5 Billion Charge in 3rd Quarter MCI Inc. reported Monday that it will take a \$3.5 billion non-cash charge in the third quarter to reflect the severe downturn in its consumer long-distance telephone business.\&lt;BR&gt;&lt;FONT face="verdana,MS Sans Serif,arial,helvetica" size="-2"\ color="#666666"&gt;&lt;B&gt;-The Washington Post&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;