Business Digest

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Business Digest

WorldCom says AT&T charges are groundless

NEW YORK -- Accusations by AT&T Corp. that rival WorldCom Inc. routed long-distance calls through Canada to avoid paying access fees are groundless and were made only for competitive gain, WorldCom said yesterday. AT&T made the accusations simply to "delay and derail" the efforts of WorldCom to emerge from bankruptcy, WorldCom said in a filing in federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan. In a court filing last week, AT&T claimed it had evidence WorldCom was shifting calls to carriers in Canada, which sent them back to the United States on AT&T lines -- forcing AT&T to pay access fees that WorldCom should have paid.

Council urges P-I, Times to keep papers alive

The Seattle City Council Monday unanimously passed a resolution encouraging The Seattle Times Co. and the Hearst Corp., owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, to resolve the dispute over their joint operating agreement in a way that ensures the survival of both newspapers. The resolution, which passed unanimously, cited the importance of maintaining "editorial diversity" in the region. Hearst has said the P-I couldn't survive outside the JOA, which the Times Co. is seeking to dissolve. A hearing in Hearst's lawsuit is set for Sept. 12.

Western Wireless posts income of $40.3 million

Western Wireless Corp. reported net income of $40.3 million for the second quarter, or 49 cents a diluted share, thanks in part to the sale of its stake in a Croatian wireless operator. The Bellevue company, which offers wireless services in rural areas and several foreign countries, reported a consolidated gain of $40.5 million on the sale of its interest in Croatia's VIPNet. Without that gain, the company would have posted a small loss for the quarter. In the same quarter last year, Western Wireless posted a loss of $27.4 million. The company's total revenue was $359 million in the second quarter, an increase of 24 percent over the same quarter last year.

NEW TOP OFFICERS

WRQ Inc., a Seattlesoftware maker, yesterday named Thomas Hull vice president of sales for the Americas.

Community Health Plan of Washington hired Gary Feldbau as senior vice president and chief medical officer.

SHIPPING NEWS

Vessels due at the Port of Seattle today, according to the Marine Exchange of Puget Sound, include Alpheos, from Kushiro, Japan, at anchor; Hanover Express, from Vancouver, B.C., at Terminal 18; and Zim Korea, from Vancouver at 18. Due tomorrow are California Mercury, at Sendai, Japan, at 18; CSCL Felixstowe, from Busan, South Korea, at 18; and Westwood Rainer, from Shimizu, Japan, at 5.

This report includes information from P-I staff, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

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