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

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (2222)	9/17/1998 6:29:00 AM
From: Teddy	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 6846

Another day another deal: Netscape and Qwest Plan To Announce Web Alliance By SETH SCHIESEL 09/17/98 The New York Times Page 2, Column 5 c. 1998 New York Times Company Forming perhaps the deepest alliance yet between a big Internet content provider and a long-distance company, the Netscape Communications Corporation and Qwest Communications International Inc. plan to announce a far-reaching strategic alliance today. The deal will link Netscape, a company whose browser software for navigating the World Wide Web made it synonymous with the Internet, to Qwest, a well-financed start-up that is building one of the most advanced fiber optic communications networks. The intent of the venture, to be known as Netscape Contact, is to enable consumers to manage voice mail, E-mail and fax communications through a single site on the Web. Under intense competitive pressure from the Microsoft Corporation, which distributes its Web browsing software free, Netscape recently moved away from selling consumer software. It has instead focused on building its Netcenter Web site into an aggregation of information and communications services that generates revenue through advertising and direct sales. The Qwest deal will allow Netscape to broaden its Web offerings while also helping to insulate Netcenter from Internet traffic jams. For Qwest, securing an alliance with Netscape could prove a marketing coup. Along with IXC Communications Inc., the Williams Companies and Level 3 Communications Inc., Qwest is among a new breed of long-distance carriers that are building national networks based on Internet technology rather than on traditional phone technology. ''This is a great distribution channel said Joseph P. Nacchio, Qwest's chief executive. ''The Netcenter customers are more educated, more computer-centric and higher spenders.'' Mr. Nacchio said he expected the venture to generate between $150 million and $175 million in revenue over the next 18 months. Qwest will pay Netscape for the right to share the branding on Netscape Contact. In return, Netscape will pay Qwest for access to its network. In the end, Netscape expects to make about $25 million net over three years on the deal. Netscape now mainly employs the Sprint Corporation and the MCI Communications Corporation to provide Netcenter with high-speed, high-capacity access to the Internet. Those relationships are not endangered by Netscape's deal with Qwest, Mr. Homer said. Netscape will use Qwest's network for additional capacity, he said. Over the summer, Netscape added a search engine and E-mail to its Web site in an effort to compete against so-called Internet portal companies like Yahoo and Excite. Working with Qwest, Netscape intends to begin selling long-distance phone service for 9 cents a minute any time of the day and to offer an integrated ''in box'' for voice mail, faxes and E-mail. On Monday, Qwest announced that it had agreed to buy a rival Internet service provider, the Icon CMT Corporation, in an all-stock transaction valued at $185 million to attract corporate customers to its new super-fast Internet access. As Qwest expands into the Internet service market, it intends to sell Netscape software. Some of Netcenter's main competitors, including Yahoo, Infoseek, Lycos and Excite, have already made deals with long-distance phone companies. None of those agreements, however, appear as ambitious as Netscape's pact with Qwest.