Phone Companies Appeal to High Court

AT&T; Corp., MCI Inc. and other telephone companies asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore rules that give them discounted access to local-phone networks owned by competitors.

The companies filed the request late Wednesday, AT&T; spokeswoman Claudia Jones said.

A federal appeals court struck down the 2003 Federal Communications Commission rules, which expired June 15. AT&T; and MCI say they need the regulations to compete in the $128-billion market for local calling.

The appeal to the Supreme Court has little chance of success because the Bush administration and the FCC last month declined to support it, analysts have said.

From Bloomberg News

* Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile-telephone carrier, agreed to buy Qwest Communications International Inc.’s wireless assets for $418 million, adding call capacity in cities including Denver, Phoenix and Seattle.

* Verizon Communications Inc. said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had overstated its first-quarter long-distance lines by about 1.5 million, citing a technical systems error. Verizon said it had found the mistake before receiving a June 18 letter from the SEC seeking information on how the company tallied customer numbers.

* Carlos Slim, Latin America’s richest man, resigned from the board of SBC Communications Inc. The 64-year-old billionaire is giving up business commitments to devote more time to charity.