Us West Inc

Qwest Communications International Inc. won final U.S. approval to purchase local phone company US West Inc. after federal regulators approved Montana Power Co.'s $200-million purchase of Qwest's long-distance assets. The Federal Communications Commission in March approved Qwest's $57-billion purchase, pending the sale of long-distance assets in US West's 14-state region. Monday's decision clears the way for Qwest to close the transaction in July.

* Baby Bell US West Inc. said fourth-quarter operating profit rose 6.1% to $368 million, or 73 cents a share, matching forecasts, on a 7.8% increase in revenue, to $3.2 billion. Revenue from new data services, including high-speed Internet access, jumped 45% while sales of local services rose 10%.

Other earnings, excluding one-time gains or charges unless noted, include: * Sempra Energy, parent of Southern California Gas Co. and other utilities, said its first-quarter earnings rose 14% to $113 million, or 49 cents a share, up from 42 cents, beating estimates of 44 cents. Revenue jumped 25% to $1.5 billion. * US West Inc., the telephone company being bought by Qwest Communications International Inc.

US West Cutting Staff: US West Inc. said it would reduce its work force by 6,000 and sell its real estate holdings in the next three years. The regional telephone company said it will take a $590-million, or $1.47-per-share, after-tax charge in the fourth quarter to account for the restructuring, said Dick McCormick, US West president and chief executive. Based in Englewood, Colo., US West has about 70,000 employees, including 55,070 in its telephone subsidiary, US West Communications.

No new talks were scheduled in the 2-day-old strike by about 35,000 workers at regional telephone company US West Inc., but both sides said the negotiations could resume today or Wednesday. Customers were experiencing few difficulties, although the Denver-based phone company, which serves 25 million customers in 14 states, warned of delays in repairs and new installations. The company has deployed 15,000 managers to handle everything from directory assistance to calls for new service.

US West Inc. asked federal regulators to make it easier for the company to provide high-speed Internet and other data services to customers across its 14-state local phone territory. The company says it needs Federal Communications Commission authority to move Internet and other data traffic across state boundaries and across 27 smaller regulatory subdivisions, called LATAs, that exist within the local phone region.

Representatives of US West Inc. and its largest union, the Communications Workers of America, will begin meetings this morning with federal mediator Jim Mahon in hopes of averting a strike. The Denver-based phone company and CWA, which represents more than 33,000 of its clerical and technical workers in 14 states, had both requested a mediator after hitting an impasse in contentious contract negotiations.

US West Inc., which was seeking to extend its contract with about 35,000 workers, said Sunday that it couldn't reach an agreement with the union and will leave in place the current labor pact, which expires in August 2001. The telecommunications company said it held two days of negotiations with the Communications Workers of America. Denver-based US West proposed the extension to quell fears that Qwest Communications International Inc., which agreed last year to acquire US West for about $50.

The Federal Communications Commission approved Qwest Communications International Inc.'s planned acquisition of Baby Bell US West Inc., subject to a planned divestiture of some long-distance customers. The merger, which had been under pressure from a now-abandoned bid by German carrier Deutsche Telekom, has already been approved by shareholders and the Justice Department, but several states in Denver-based US West's 14-state region continue to review the deal.

In a move to win approval of their planned merger, US West Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. reached a settlement with Washington state regulators that would freeze phone rates until 2004 and establish financial incentives for quality control. The agreement requires the merged company to improve the state's telecommunications network and to meet certain quality standards or else pay customers as much as $20 million a year.

Qwest Communications International Inc., the No. 4 U.S. long-distance phone company, confirmed Sunday that it was in talks with a major telecommunications company about the possible takeover of it and its existing merger partner, US West Inc. Denver-based Qwest declined to name the suitor, but sources familiar with the situation said the talks were with German phone giant Deutsche Telekom.

US West Inc. Friday demanded that its merger partner, Qwest Communications International Inc., disclose the status of talks with rumored bidder Deutsche Telekom, saying it will hold Qwest responsible for damages to their $36-billion merger agreement. In a letter sent to Qwest's general counsel, US West said, "We are extremely concerned that these discussions [with Deutsche Telekom] are ongoing with no information being provided to us.

US West Inc. Chairman Sol Trujillo, citing disagreements with his counterpart at Qwest Communications International Inc. over strategy and responsibilities, said Tuesday that he would leave after the telephone companies complete their planned $36-billion merger.

US West Inc. said it sold 65% of its stake in Global Crossing Ltd. to take advantage of a rebound in the shares. The local phone company sold about 24 million shares, valued at $1.15 billion, at an average of $47.92 each. It paid $62.75 for the shares last June as part of a planned merger with Global Crossing that was canceled. Global Crossing shares fell to as low as $20.25 in September.

Qwest Communications International Inc., the long-distance telephone company merging with US West Inc., said Tuesday it will switch the listing of its shares to the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 3, the latest defection of a technology company from the Nasdaq Stock Market. The two markets compete intensely for the listing of companies, with the exchange poaching many of Nasdaq's leading names, including America Online Inc. and Gateway Inc., as well as smaller stocks such as ResMed Inc.