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Technology Stocks : Qwest Communications (Q) (formerly QWST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alejandro who wrote (3923)	6/8/1999 12:00:00 PM
From: MangoBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6846

[Court agrees with FCC and bars Qwest, Bell deals] WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. Appeals Court on Tuesday agreed that a 1996 law barred regional Bell companies like Ameritech Corp. and US West from selling long distance service from Qwest Communications International Inc. The ruling, upholding a decision by the Federal Communications Commission, was a victory for AT&T Corp. and other carriers who argued that marketing agreements Qwest made with Ameritech and US West last year were illegal since the Baby Bells themselves are barred from providing long distance. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Bell companies may not jump into the $90 billion long distance telephone market until they prove they have opened their own networks to competitors in the $110 billion local telephone market. No Bell has yet passed the law's tests, but last year Ameritech and US West sought to sell their local customers an inexpensive long distance service provided by Qwest marketed under their own brand names. The FCC, in September, 1998, barred the deals after finding that the marketing arrangements with Qwest would lessen the Bells' incentives to open their local networks as the Telecom Act intended. In Tuesday's decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia concluded that the FCC had acted reasonably.