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

To: Straight Up who wrote (3878)	5/27/1999 7:05:00 PM
From: David Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6846

Bell Atlantic, Qwest Expect To Hit Analysts' 1999 Targets NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Executives for telecommunications concerns Bell Atlantic Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc., speaking Thursday at a conference conducted by Banc of America Securities, reiterated confidence that their companies will hit 1999 financial targets. James Cullen, chief operating officer at Bell Atlantic (BEL), said the New York-New England Baby Bell expects revenue to grow by 5% to 6% to about $32 billion this year and net income to climb 10% to 12% to $3 billion. Cullen said he expects earnings growth to accelerate up to 15% after the company completes its $65 billion acquisition of GTE Corp. Shareholders of GTE (GTE) overwhelmingly approved the deal. The Justice Department approved it on the condition the companies shed overlapping wireless properties. Bell Atlantic and Irving, Texas-bassed GTE say their deal will enable them to challenge other regional Bells and long-distance providers, creating more competition nationwide. The acquisition also will bring new services and benefits to consumers nationwide, the companies say. Cullen also said Bell Atlantic is making progress in meeting standards that will allow it to offer long-distance service in New York and other states. Bell Atlantic, like other Baby Bells, has been trying to break into the long-distance market for a while now. But no Baby Bell has yet received Federal Communications Commission approval to offer long-distance service. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Baby Bell phone companies can't offer long-distance service until they prove to the FCC that they have opened local markets to competition, which includes giving competitors access to directory-assistance services and other elements needed to effectively deliver competitive local-telephone service. The act contained a 14-point checklist that regulators would use to measure whether the phone companies had indeed opened their markets to competition. Meanwhile, Scott Baxter, Qwest's (QWST) chief strategy officer, said the Denver-based, long-distance carrier is "very very comfortable" with analysts' projections for 1999 and 2000. The estimates he endorsed call for Qwest to have revenue of up to $3.5 billion from communications services this year. Banc of America expects Qwest's total revenue, which includes construction revenue, to be $3.7 billion in 1999 and $4.8 billion in 2000. The firm expects Qwest to have operating cash flow of $777 million in 1999 and $1.1 billion in 2000. Qwest is among a new breed of long-distance carriers that are building national fiber-optic networks based on Internet rather than traditional phone technology. Qwest's network, scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 1999, will interconnect more than 130 U.S. cities. In addition to building the network, Qwest also is aggressively pushing its own long-distance service. Because of their cutting-edge technology, companies like Qwest are part of a group of firms viewed as a serious challenge to traditional phone such as AT&T Corp. Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.