DENVER, June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- U S WEST said it plans to seek an expedited
review at the FCC of its Buyer's Advantage marketing alliance with Qwest
Communications after a federal court decision in Seattle today temporarily
suspended the program. In its decision, the court did not rule on the merits
of the issue, but held the program should be suspended until the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has had a full opportunity to decide the case.
To date, almost 130 thousand customers have signed up for the offer. Those
customers will not be affected by today's ruling.
"This is a defeat for consumers. It's unfortunate the court chose not to
decide the merits of this program because almost 130,000 new customers already
have," said Solomon D. Trujillo, president and CEO of U S WEST Communications.
"People have signed up in droves for the Buyer's Advantage initiative to
finally get the one-stop shop convenience they have been looking for in their
local and long-distance service. We intend to seek an expedited review of the
program, so more people can get the benefits thousands now enjoy."
"This temporary suspension may make the big long-distance companies happy.
They don't want the competition, especially from an upstart new company like
Qwest. But this decision will certainly disappoint thousands of prospective
customers, who were looking forward to getting the better value and no-
nonsense 10c a minute interstate rates offered by Qwest through Buyer's
Advantage," said Trujillo.
"Qwest is extremely disappointed in today's ruling," said Joseph P.
Nacchio, president and CEO of Qwest. "Buyer's Advantage offers customers the
choice to sign up for a Qwest long-distance plan that, compared to AT&T's
basic rate plan, can save customers up to 18-cents per minute on a long-
distance call. This ruling is a loss for customers who have clearly voted in
favor of simple, inexpensive service offerings."
U S WEST began offering Buyer's Advantage in its 14-state region on May 7,
giving customers the benefit of U S WEST local phone service with the option
of Qwest interstate long-distance service at a rate of 10c a minute, 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. Since then, demand has been overwhelming, with
almost 130,000 consumers signing up for the Buyer's Advantage program in just
over three weeks.
The big long-distance companies, however, quickly moved to try to squelch
the program. AT&T, MCI and others filed suit against U S WEST in federal
district court in Seattle, seeking a preliminary injunction to suspend the
offering. AT&T and MCI claim it violates the 1996 Telecommunications Act which
prohibits regional phone carriers from "providing" out-of-state long-distance
service for customers in their region.
U S WEST and Qwest believe Buyer's Advantage meets both the spirit and
letter of the 1996 Act, offering customers more choice and better value in
their long-distance service. Furthermore, it is Qwest, not U S WEST, that
provides the long-distance to customers and gets the revenue. And other
qualified long-distance companies, interested in providing the same value to
customers, have had the opportunity to join the program.
"We expect to ultimately prevail in this case," said Trujillo. "Buyer's
Advantage is a 'win/win' proposition for consumers and competitive phone
carriers alike." |
