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Business Digest
AT&T Wireless hurricane pricing probed

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AT&T Wireless' network and those of its roaming partners failed during the storm, and some customers trying to make calls were billed by a third-party service with rates that were "quite high," company spokesman Mark Siegel said.

AT&T Wireless will refund the extra charges on customers' next bills, Siegel said, adding that "nobody should be billed more during a natural disaster, and nothing would be more odious to us than doing that to our customers."

Deal on convertible Microvision stock

BELLEVUE — Bothell-based Microvision, which develops light-scanning technologies, said it agreed to sell $10 million of convertible preferred stock and warrants to a single institutional investor.

Lumera, a subsidiary of Microvision, sold 6 million shares at $6.95 each in its initial public offering in July.

Microvision's preferred stock matures Sept. 10, 2007, when the company can choose whether to make it payable in cash or convert it into 1.4 million shares of common stock based on a conversion price of $6.91 a share. The warrants will be exercisable for 361,795 shares of common stock at $8.16 a share through Sept. 10, 2009.

Nation and World

U.S. to heed International Trade Commission lumber ruling

WASHINGTON — A U.S. trade body yesterday agreed to comply with a NAFTA panel ruling concluding that Canadian softwood lumber imports are no threat to the U.S. industry.

In response to an Aug. 31 decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted 5-1 that "the U.S. softwood lumber industry is not threatened with material injury" by the Canadian imports.
 
But the commission said it was only complying with the NAFTA ruling because it "respects and is bound by the NAFTA dispute settlement process."

It was not clear yesterday what impact, if any, the commission's decision would have.

In the Aug. 31 ruling, a five-member North American Free Trade Agreement panel directed the U.S. trade commission to rescind its justification for stiff tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber since May 2002.

Qwest fraud settlement reported

DENVER — Qwest has tentatively agreed to pay $250 million to settle fraud allegations by federal regulators, a union official said yesterday, a move that could help lift a cloud that has been hanging over the telecommunications giant for nearly 2-1/2 years.

John Thompson, a Communications Workers of America vice president, said he was notified by a company official of the tentative settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said he did not have specifics.

Qwest spokesman Robert Toevs declined comment, saying only that the company was cooperating with the SEC and the Justice Department. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, Jeff Dorschner, said he had not heard of a settlement with Qwest.

FTC levies $1.5 million fine against Sprint and AT&T

WASHINGTON — Sprint and AT&T will pay nearly $1.5 million in civil penalties to settle government claims that the companies violated federal credit laws for customers seeking telephone service, the Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday.

Under the agreement, Sprint will pay $1.1 million and AT&T will pay $365,000.

The commission said the two companies either denied service to prospective customers or placed conditions on their service because of their credit reports.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff, Bloomberg News and The Associated Press