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

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1308)	5/21/1998 10:44:00 AM
From: MangoBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6846

[AT&T Begins Internet Telephony Trial In Atlanta For Release Thursday, May 21, 1998] ATLANTA, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T (NYSE:T) announced that today a limited market trial of its new Internet telephony phone-to-phone interstate calling service begins in the greater Atlanta area. With AT&T Connect 'N Save(R) Service, phone-to-phone calls are carried over AT&T's Internet Protocol (IP) backbone network. This enables AT&T Connect 'N Save calls to be carried with a level of quality that is higher than what is typically found with calls carried over the public Internet. AT&T Connect 'N Save customers will pay just 8.5 cents per-minute for all calls to U.S. locations from Atlanta. This per-minute rate applies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is also a $2.00 monthly minimum usage for each AT&T Connect 'N Save account; this minimum usage amount is waived through September 30, 1998. Customers will prepay via credit card for a set amount of calling using AT&T Connect 'N Save Service - in units of $25, $50 or $100. As they make calls, the service automatically informs them of the balance in their AT&T Connect 'N Save account, which can be replenished at any time with their credit card. "This market trial launches AT&T into the new world of IP phone-to-phone voice communications," said Howard McNally, AT&T vice president, transaction services. "We are offering people another choice for their calling needs, and a way to use the newest technology at a great price from the industry leader." AT&T Connect 'N Save calls will have good sound quality, with conversation that is clear to both the calling and called parties. Experts from AT&T Labs have worked to minimize the delays sometimes associated with Internet telephony calls. No computer equipment of any kind is needed to use the service. Callers dial a local access number and, after a prompt, enter their authorization code. They then dial the number they want to call. AT&T Connect 'N Save Service is available to both AT&T customers and non-AT&T customers. Consumers do not need to change their long-distance carrier to sign up for AT&T Connect 'N Save Service. Atlanta area residents who are within the local calling area for the service are eligible to sign up for the AT&T Connect 'N Save trial. However, the company is limiting the number of trial participants. To get more information or to sign up, consumers may visit the AT&T web site, att.com, or they may call 1-800-345-0995 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. (The 800 number will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 1998.) Registrations for the trial will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. The company is also conducting the market trial of AT&T Connect 'N Save Service in Boston and San Francisco.

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1308)	5/21/1998 3:20:00 PM
From: MangoBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to 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.

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1308)	5/24/1998 7:51:00 AM
From: Doug (Htfd,CT)	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6846

Phil, denying a Prelim Injunction does not mean the case is over, or that the "feds" will "allow" QWest's deal to go forward. A court will often deny granting a preliminary injunction for many reasons other than the merits of the case. This may simply mean that the court was persuaded that the arrangement can be unwound in a few months if found violative of the Telecom Act, so blocking it now is not essential. Granting PI's is the exception rather than the rule. Don't read too much into the denial of the PI. The article you quoted points out that the court denied the motion to dismiss, so the case will go on. Also, opponents will probably appeal the court's final decision whatever it is. It may take years to resolve this, and in the meantime the FCC may revise its rules to fill this loophole, making this litigation moot. Doug (not a telecom law specialist)