Metrocall to File for Bankruptcy Protection

Metrocall Inc. plans to fire 495 workers and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors later this month, the second-largest U.S. paging-services provider said in a regulatory filing.

Alexandria, Va.-based Metrocall had a loss of $612.8 million in 2001, the company’s annual report filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. In all, Metrocall said it will fire about 850 of its 2,976 workers this year, or about 29%, and close an undisclosed number of its 30 stores.

Metrocall, which serves about 5.4 million customers, is the latest victim in an industry losing customers to cell phones and other devices. One-way pager users in the U.S. fell to about 30 million at the end of 2001 from about 50 million in 1998, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Assn. said.