1.   AMERICA SERVICE GROUP INC., New Castle, Del., a national provider of correctional health-care services, appointed Scott L. Mercy president and chief executive.

2.   And rural residents who use national Internet service providers like America Online or EarthLink often find themselves paying toll charges to call their access numbers.

3.   AOL may be the biggest, but Microsoft Network is the best national Internet service provider, according to a new J.D. Power and Associates survey.

4.   Companies Plan Internet Service MCI plans to become a national Internet service provider, offering residential and business access to the Internet.

5.   Craig, who has been on Prodigy, America Online and Delphi, took the plunge with Netcom Online Communications Services, a national provider.

6.   Fourteen percent have been denied even partial accreditation, including some operated in scattered localities by leading national providers like Humana, Aetna and Pacificare.

7.   Let me suggest that you stay away from the national providers.

8.   One is that tens of millions of Americans use national Internet service providers like America Online.

9.   Other local services and some national providers are taking a wait-and-see approach.

10.   Over the past few months, all of the national wireless providers, and many of the regional ones, have added paging to their mix of services.