Posted by : trraju on Oct 25, 2003 - 01:05 AM General

DENVER (AP) - Qwest Communications International Inc. has sued AT&T Corp. seeking to recoup fees from toll-free telephone numbers that were routed on Qwest's network.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver alleges that since March 2000, AT&T failed to maintain an accurate database of toll-free numbers that were called using Qwest's network. That caused the Denver-based telecommunications giant to underbill AT&T for using its network, according to the lawsuit.

Qwest claims the underbilling amounted to $15 million to $20 million annually. The suit also seeks damages, interest and legal expenses.

The lawsuit said AT&T quit updating the database as early as March 2000, and that AT&T has acknowledged the database was inaccurate.

``The bottom line is after exhausting all other means of resolution with AT&T, we filed this suit in federal court in order to recoup fees that have not been paid by AT&T,'' Qwest spokeswoman Rebecca Tennille said Wednesday.

AT&T spokeswoman Sue Fleming said company officials had not seen the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, and she declined comment.

Qwest shares fell 3 cents Wednesday to close at $3.45 each on the New York Stock Exchange.