Qwest Complains to S&P

DENVER -- Qwest Communications International Inc. said today that it disagrees with Standard & Poor's action to lower the company's long-term corporate credit rating to BB+. Qwest executive vice president and CFO, Robin R. Szeliga said, "We are extremely disappointed with the action taken by S&P. Most concerning to us is that this change in rating is not based on any new information and we are unclear as to what prompted this action. We expect to be cash flow positive by the end of the second quarter and through the rest of the year. We continue to make progress in our efforts to delever our balance sheet." Qwest has in excess of $10 billion of non-strategic assets under consideration for sale to help reduce debt. A number of parties have expressed interest in purchasing some or all of these properties. On May 8, Qwest said that it had received multiple bids for the purchase of all or part of the QwestDex Yellow Pages business. The company is encouraged by the level of interest and quality of the bids and is proceeding with the sales process. Qwest said it is funded to make quarterly payments on its $26.2 billion in debt until May of 2003. Qwest Communications International Inc. Standard & Poor's