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Business Digest
Qwest, MCI reach network-access accord

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The deal follows four days of closed-door talks that federal regulators called to encourage the four big local telephone carriers and their two biggest rivals, MCI and AT&T, to reach access agreements instead of pursuing lawsuits.

Qwest, which serves Washington and 13 other states, and MCI have been working on an agreement for weeks. MCI will see no price increases for 2004 and then gradual increases through early 2007, according to the companies.

No other pacts were reached during the negotiations overseen by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell and Commissioner Kevin Martin, sources said.

A federal appeals court in March threw out FCC rules that had required the big local carriers, known as the Baby Bells, to continue leasing access to rivals at government-set rates in an effort to promote competition.

With those rules due to disappear June 15, the two sides felt pressure to either reach commercial agreements or face prolonged legal fights.

AT&T and other small local carriers plan to appeal the March decision to the Supreme Court, and most of the FCC has expressed support for such a move.

The FCC had adopted the rules over a year ago to spur competition since the Bells own most phone lines into U.S. homes. Rivals have been leasing part of the Bell networks to compete.

Stewart said to offer aid for light sentence

NEW YORK — Martha Stewart will seek to lighten her jail term by spending up to 20 hours a week teaching poor women how to start their own businesses, according to Newsweek magazine.

Stewart has offered to work up to 1,000 hours for Women's Venture Fund (WVF), a nonprofit organization based in New York, WVF president Maria Otero told the magazine for its June 7 edition.
 
After meeting privately with Stewart, Otero wrote a three-page letter to U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum about how the domestic doyenne's know-how could benefit underprivileged women, Newsweek said.

Robert Morvillo, a lawyer for Stewart, would not confirm the report.

"Community service is a form of alternative sentencing. But we're not going to comment beyond that," he told the Daily News for yesterday's editions.

Stewart and ex-stockbroker Peter Bacanovic were convicted in March of lying about why she sold shares of ImClone Systems stock just before the price plunged.

She is scheduled for sentencing June 17 and could face 10 months to 16 months in prison.

Wheaton River rejects Coeur D'Alene's bid

Wheaton River Minerals rejected a $1.8 billion takeover offer from Coeur d'Alene Mines, saying the bid is from a company with a history of losses that could decline in value as it changes focus from silver to gold.

The board of Vancouver, B.C.-based Wheaton River recommended shareholders approve a combination with Iamgold to create Canada's fourth-biggest gold producer, rather than merge with a silver-mining company like Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene.

Wheaton River and Iamgold agreed to combine March 31 to boost production after bullion prices reached 15-year highs.

The merger would create a company with a combined market value of $2.2 billion, making it more attractive to fund managers who invest in larger companies.

Coeur d'Alene's offer valued shares of Wheaton River at $3.28, the company said. The proposal includes $133 million in assumed debt.

Wheaton River shareholders will vote on the proposal to combine with Iamgold June 8, as previously scheduled.

Compiled from The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg News