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

To: Scotsman who wrote (2261)	9/29/1998 12:20:00 PM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6846

NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A decision by federal regulators to bar two regional Bell companies from marketing long distance services on behalf of upstart carrier Qwest Communications International Inc. (NASDAQ:QWST) had little impact on the firms' shares Tuesday. The Federal Communications Commission decision was widely expected and was already "priced into the stocks," said Scott Wright, a telecommunications analyst with Fahnestock & Co. Inc. After the stock market closed Monday, the FCC said the marketing pacts between Qwest and U S West Inc. (NYSE:USW) and Ameritech Corp. (NYSE:AIT) violated the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which limits long distance offerings by the Baby Bells. Under that law, the Bells cannot provide long distance service in their home regions until they open their local telephone markets to competition. "The FCC had made noises about it -- nobody expected (the Qwest pacts) to go through," Wright said. Meghan Kulick, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, agreed: "It was a long shot. I don't think anyone thought the FCC would allow this circumvention of the Telecom Act." Qwest had estimated that its pact with U S West would add $100 million to $200 million to its 1999 revenues. The company posted revenues of $570 million in the first six months of 1998. Since Wall Street did not expect the FCC to approve the marketing pacts, analysts had not added any potential benefit into their earnings or revenue estimates for Qwest, Kulick said. "This wasn't in anyone's numbers. This (FCC decision) is as expected. It should not have a negative impact," the analyst said. Shares of U S West were up 1/4 to 53-5/16 in morning trading, while Ameritech was off 1/2 to 49-7/8. Shares of Qwest were down 2-5/16 to 33-5/16, adding to losses of more then 2 points on Monday, when rumors of the FCC decision were circulating. Analysts attributed today's decline in Qwest's stock more to general market fluctuations than the FCC decision. Shares of long distance carriers AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (NASDAQ:WCOM), which had filed lawsuits to block the Qwest marketing deals, also appeared unaffected by the FCC decision. AT&T was up 11/16 to 58-7/8, while MCI WorldCom was ahead 1/8 to 50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 21 points to 8087, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained almost four points to 1743. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service