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Technology Stocks : Qwest Communications (Q) (formerly QWST)

Q 90.31

+0.9%

Jan 9 9:30 AM EST

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To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1308)	5/21/1998 3:20:00 PM
From: MangoBoy	Read Replies (1) of 6846

[FCC Reviewing Qwest Marketing Pacts With Ameritech, US West] WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Federal Communications Commission said it is studying recent marketing agreements inked between two Baby Bells and long-distance carrier Qwest Communications International Inc. (QWST). Ameritech Corp. (AIT) and U S West Communications Group (USW) signed separate agreements earlier this month to market Qwest's long-distance service to customers within their respective service regions. Critics, like AT&T Corp. (T) and MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC), say the pacts violate the law because they prematurely allow the Bells into the long-distance business. AT&T and MCI filed lawsuits to block the agreements. In a statement, FCC Chairman William Kennard said commission staffers are reviewing the arrangements. Kennard said the FCC will ask the three companies to submit more information about the terms and conditions of the marketing agreements. "There have been suggestions that prior commission precedents clearly address these specific types of arrangements," Kennard said. "I do not believe that is the case." As reported, AT&T on Wednesday surprised the industry by offering to team up with the Baby Bells and GTE Corp. (GTE) in similar marketing arrangements. The long-distance giant, in a letter to the local carriers, said it still opposed the Qwest deals on legal grounds. But the letter added that "should these arrangements be found lawful," AT&T "would also like to provide our customers with one-stop shopping." Kennard said the FCC has "not had occasion to evaluate these precise arrangements." The agency, he said, "will continue to review these arrangements to determine whether they are consistent with the Telecommunications Act and commission precedent." The nation's Baby Bells have been prohibited from offering long-distance calling within their own regions since the 1984 breakup of Ma Bell. The 1996 telecom-reform law scrapped that ban for carriers that have taken sufficient steps to open their local calling markets to competition. So far, none of the Bells has met the requirements.

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