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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: April 5, 2000
(Date of earliest event reported)
U S WEST, Inc.
(Formerly "USW-C, Inc.")
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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A Delaware Corporation Commission File IRS Employer Identification
(State of Incorporation) Number 1-14087 No. 84-0953188
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1801 California Street, Denver, Colorado 80202
(Address of principal executive offices, including Zip Code)
Telephone Number (303) 672-2700
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
(The Exhibits Index is located on page 2 of this report.)
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Item 5. Other Events
On April 5, 2000, U S WEST, Inc. (the "Company") issued a press release
concerning the departure of Joseph R. Zell, President of U S WEST !NTERPRISE
Networking. The press release is filed as an exhibit to this Current Report on
Form 8-K.
Item 7. Exhibits
(c) Exhibits Index
Exhibit 99 - Press Release issued by the Company on April 5, 2000 entitled
"Joe Zell, Top Broadband Executive, Departs U S WEST to Head
Denver-based Convergent Communications - Janice Aune, Senior U S
WEST Executive, named to Succeed Zell"
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
U S WEST, Inc.
(Formerly "USW-C, Inc.")
By: /s/ Thomas O. McGimpsey
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Thomas O. McGimpsey
Assistant Secretary
Dated: April 5, 2000
EXHIBIT 99
U S WEST, Inc. [U S WEST Logo]
1801 California Street life's better here [Registered Trademark]
Denver, CO 80202
News Release
Release Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2000
Contact: Dana Smith Jon Lentz
(303) 896-5528 (303) 965-3235
[email protected] [email protected]
JOE ZELL, TOP BROADBAND EXECUTIVE, DEPARTS U S WEST
TO HEAD DENVER-BASED CONVERGENT COMMUNICATIONS
-- Janice Aune, Senior U S WEST Executive, Named to Succeed Zell --
DENVER -- Joseph R. Zell, president of U S WEST !NTERPRISE Networking, today
announced he is leaving U S WEST to accept the position of president and CEO at
Denver-based Convergent Communications, Inc. Janice L. Aune, vice president,
Operations, Technical Engineering and Systems at !NTERPRISE, was named to
succeed Zell as new head of U S WEST !NTERPRISE Networking.
At U S WEST, Zell led the unit that creates broadband products and services,
including high-speed access and applications for the Internet. Today, the
14-state U S WEST service region has the nation's highest penetration rate for
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology, which super-charges copper telephone
lines to deliver video and data at high speeds.
"Under Joe's leadership, U S WEST became an industry pacesetter in the
deployment of high-speed Internet and broadband services, including DSL, " said
Sol Trujillo, chairman, president and CEO of U S WEST. "Joe is a visionary
leader, an effective manager and a fierce competitor. He's also a close friend
and colleague. We'll miss him, even as we wish him the best in his new
position."
"The decision to leave U S WEST was difficult, but this was an opportunity I
could not turn down," said Zell. "It's especially difficult to leave my friends
and colleagues at U S WEST. Sol Trujillo has an unusual ability to attract great
talent. He is an exemplary New Economy leader who can bring together a strong
and diverse team from a variety of disciplines. At U S WEST, that team has an
unparalleled record of innovation, creating new choices for customers and new
value for shareholders. I am proud to have been a part of Sol's team."
Trujillo named Aune, a long-time senior officer of the company, to succeed Zell.
"Janice brings a wealth of Internet and data networking savvy to her new
position. She is a top performer and will be a great new addition to our senior
team," said Trujillo.
Aune is currently head of Operations, Technical Engineering and Systems at
!NTERPRISE, where she leads more than 1,200 employees who support a rapidly
growing data and Internet provider organization with revenues that increase 65
percent a year. She has held positions of increasing responsibility since she
joined U S WEST in 1970, in areas across the breadth and depth of the business.
These include budgeting, construction, strategic and financial planning,
engineering, data communications, customer care and operations.
She has spent the last eight years at U S WEST in the data networking and
Internet arena. The last five of those years she led the !NTERPRISE Operations
organization, creating world-class innovation in data networking, system
architecture and customer care. Her team led the technical engineering design
and implementation of DSL services. Aune received her bachelor of arts degree,
summa cum laude, in finance, business management and economics from Augsburg
College, in Minnesota.
Zell was named to his current position at U S WEST in 1997 and led the rapidly
growing !NTERPRISE unit, which generated $1.7 billion in data revenues and $2.7
billion in total annual revenues in 1999. Previously, he was president of U S
WEST Wholesale Markets. He also served as vice president of Markets and
Innovation at !NTERPRISE, where he developed and managed applications and
products that address the full range of voice, video and data networking. He
began his career at U S WEST in 1991 as director of product development for
!NTERPRISE. He later served as executive director of Applications Innovation.
Before joining U S WEST, Zell was with WilTel, now MCI-WorldCom, for six years,
where he held a variety of marketing and product development positions. During
that time, he was responsible for developing and introducing the industry's
first frame relay service. Prior to his tenure at WilTel, Zell worked at United
Technologies Communications, a PBX manufacturer, and in sales at MCI and Xerox.
Zell currently serves on the board of directors for U S Internetworking, Inc.,
Intertainer, Inc., Netpliance, Inc., the U S WEST Foundation and the Shaka
Franklin Foundation. He graduated with honors from Southwest Missouri State
University in Springfield, Missouri, with a degree in marketing.
Print-quality images of Zell and Aune are available for download at
www.uswest.com.
About U S WEST
U S WEST (NYSE: USW) is a leading broadband and communications service provider,
with more than $13 billion in annual revenues. U S WEST leads the industry in
deploying next-generation broadband ADSL and VDSL Internet access and data/video
services; offers the nation's first and only 'one-number' advanced wireless
service that integrates customers' home or business phones with their wireless
PCS; and provides multimedia advertising services, including Internet and print
directories. The company has nearly 2 million miles of deployed fiber in the
U.S., provides local exchange services to more than 25 million customers in 14
states, and provides wireless services to more than 500,000 customers and data
services to more than 800,000 customers nationally.
U S WEST is merging with Qwest Communications International Inc. The
combination, to be named Qwest Communications International Inc., will create a
communications powerhouse with a market capitalization of more than $70 billion,
headquartered in Denver and employing about 64,000 people worldwide. U S WEST
and Qwest will unite the nation's most innovative local, wireless and broadband
communications firm with one of the world's most advanced fiber-optic networks
and broadband Internet providers. Together, the two firms will have more than 3
million miles of deployed fiber in the U.S. and worldwide, 29 million customers
and a local network that is 99.2 percent digitally switched. For more
information about U S WEST, go to http://www.uswest.com.
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