U S West Media Group

U S West Media Group said the $2.3-billion deal to sell its domestic mobile-phone business to AirTouch Communications Inc. has collapsed because Congress denied its request for a special tax exemption. However, the Denver-based firm plans eventually to sell the holdings anyway through an agreement with AirTouch that doesn't rely on tax-free status, said Steve Lang, a spokesman for U S West. U S West will continue to operate the business under a joint venture with Walnut Creek, Calif.

Less than a year after selling the cable company he founded 34 years ago to US West Media Group, Amos Hostetter is resigning as CEO of US West unit Media One over US West's decision to move its cable headquarters to Denver from Boston. US West, which is based in a Denver suburb, became the nation's third-largest cable operator in November when it paid $11.8 billion for Boston-based Continental Cablevision Corp.

Less than a year after selling the cable company he founded 34 years ago to US West Media Group, Amos Hostetter is resigning as CEO of US West unit Media One over US West's decision to move its cable headquarters to Denver from Boston. US West, which is based in a Denver suburb, became the nation's third-largest cable operator in November when it paid $11.8 billion for Boston-based Continental Cablevision Corp.

U S West Media Group said the $2.3-billion deal to sell its domestic mobile-phone business to AirTouch Communications Inc. has collapsed because Congress denied its request for a special tax exemption. However, the Denver-based firm plans eventually to sell the holdings anyway through an agreement with AirTouch that doesn't rely on tax-free status, said Steve Lang, a spokesman for U S West. U S West will continue to operate the business under a joint venture with Walnut Creek, Calif.

After months of delays and scaled-back plans, the Sprint PCS wireless telephone network will launch today. San Diego and Fresno are expected to be among the first handful of cities to receive the all-digital networks, which will compete with existing cellular systems. When fully developed, Sprint PCS will encompass 65 cities in the U.S., including 35 of the 50 biggest cities.

A bidding war has broken out for AirTouch Communications, which is weighing dueling offers reportedly in the $45-billion range from both Bell Atlantic Corp. and Europe's Vodafone Group. The San Francisco-based wireless company that was spun off from Pacific Telesis in 1994 has quietly become the world's largest wireless services provider, with holdings in 13 countries.

When Viacom Inc. said earlier this year that it wanted to issue a new stock tied to the performance of its Blockbuster Entertainment unit, the reaction from Wall Street was swift and to the point. Investors hated the idea. The opposition was so loud, in fact, that Viacom, after initially trying to defend its plan, decided to shelve it. "The market in general does not like tracking stocks and has never liked tracking stocks," one stock analyst said at the time.