|
U S West, Qwest under fire
|
 |
May 13, 1998: 4:45 p.m. ET
Long-distance providers file suit, alleging alliance violates telecom act
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The nation's top two long-distance companies have sued U S West Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. over their recent alliance to market both long-distance and local telephone services.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, AT&T Corp. and MCI Communications Corp. alleged the alliance directly violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
When the alliance was announced on May 7, Qwest President Joseph Nacchio explained the alliance met current statutes within the law.
"We think everything we're doing is within the rules and laws as they are currently construed," the one-time AT&T long-distance chief said at that time.
Under the landmark legislation, regional Bell operating companies such as U.S. West Communications Group are obligated to open their respective home markets before they enter long distance.
"We think it's quite clear," Jim McGann, an AT&T spokesman, said late Wednesday.
Joining the two long-distance providers in the suit were the Association for Local Telecommunications Services, McLeodUSA Telecommunications, ICG Communications and GST Telecom.
Under the terms of the marketing alliance, formed with the U S West Communications Group unit, customers of U S West will be able to join a plan that offers long-distance service from Qwest at 10 cents a minute. In exchange, Qwest will pay U S West an undisclosed fee per customer.
If the U S West-Qwest alliance is permitted to proceed, it will cause "substantial and irreparable harm to long-distance carriers (like AT&T and MCI), other carriers seeking to enter the local market (like ICG, GST and McLeod), and to the public interest as defined in the 1996 Act," the lawsuit said.
Officials from U S West and Qwest weren't immediately available.
|
|
|
|
|
|
AT&T
MCI
Qwest
U S West
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
