Kansas City, Mo. ? WorldCom Inc.’s accounting scandal will taint the entire telecommunications industry but could benefit competitors like Sprint Corp. in the long run, analysts said Wednesday.

And while the revelation that WorldCom had disguised $3.8 billion in expenses hurt all telecom stocks, the firm’s troubles made last year’s failure of its proposed merger with Overland Park-based Sprint seem a blessing in retrospect.

WorldCom, the nation’s No. 2 long distance company, had been poised to absorb third-leading provider Sprint into the patchwork of 60 companies it had acquired over 15 years. But federal and European regulators blocked the $129 billion deal, citing competitive concerns.

Buffeted by industry competition and the general economic slowdown, Sprint has seen its stock prices decline from the $60 per share it reached when the merger plan was first announced in October 1999.

Telecommunications stocks fell generally Wednesday, with shares of Sprint FON Sprint’s long distance business losing $1.19 or 10.5 percent to close at $10.10 on the New York Stock Exchange. AT&T, the nation’s largest long distance company, declined 33 cents to $9.62.

If WorldCom enters bankruptcy, its large long-distance customers such as businesses and government agencies could defect to other providers and would probably look at the largest companies first.

“The most obvious beneficiary is AT&T,” said Drake Johnstone, an analyst. “Sprint is probably next best-positioned to benefit from WorldCom’s woes.”