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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                   )                   
                              )                   
U S WEST Corporation               ) 
                              )              ASD No. 98-87  
Request For Confidential Treatment      )                   
of Section 274(f) Form 10-K Equivalent  )
                              )

     
                             ORDER

   Adopted:  October 16, 1998           
     Released:  October 16, 1998 

By the Chief, Accounting Safeguards Division

     1.   On April 2, 1998, U S WEST, Inc. ("U S West"), on behalf of its separated affiliate  U S
WEST Dex, Inc., filed with the Commission certain information required under section 274(f) of the
Communications Act, as amended ("the Act").  Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Section 552(b)(4) of the Freedom of
Information Act ("FOIA"), and sections 0.457(d) and 0.459 of the Commission's rules,
U S West requests confidential treatment of this information.  For the reasons explained herein, we deny U
S West's request.

     2.   Section 274(f) requires any separated affiliate of Bell Operating Companies ("BOCs")
engaged in electronic publishing activities, as defined by the Act, to "file with the Commission annual
reports in a form substantially equivalent to the Form 10-K required by regulations of the Securities and
Exchange Commission."  In the Accounting Safeguards Order, the Commission interpreted section 274(f)
to mean that all BOC electronic publishing separated affiliates must file annual reports containing "the
same information in the same format" as the Form 10-K required by the regulations of the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC").  Under SEC requirements, the Form 10-K must contain a description of
the company filing the report and its operations, financial statements with supporting financial data, and
certain legal and financial disclosures concerning the company.  The SEC Form 10-K is a publicly
available document.

     3.   U S West presented no support for its request for confidential treatment of its 10-K
Equivalent filing.  The Commission's rules require that each request for confidential treatment "contain a
statement of the reasons for withholding the materials from public inspection and of the facts upon which
those reasons are based."  For mandatory filings, the petitioner bears the burden of showing the likelihood
of substantial competitive injury if disclosure is made.  Because U S West presented no arguments in
support of its request for confidential treatment, we conclude that U S West failed to substantiate its
request as required by the Commission's rules.  The Commission's rules clearly state that casual requests
will not be entertained.  We therefore reject U S West's request for confidential treatment of its 10-K
Equivalent filing.  

     4.   Pursuant to the Commission's rules, the data in U S West's Form 10-K Equivalent will not
be released until the company has exhausted its appeal rights under Section 0.459(g).  U S West may file
an application for review within 5 working days of this Order.  If U S West does not seek review, the data
will be placed in the public file.  

     5.   Accordingly IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to the authority that is contained in Section 0.459
of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.459 that U S West's Request for Confidential Treatment is
DENIED.
                                                            FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                                                            Kenneth P. Moran
                                                            Chief, Accounting Safeguards Division
                                                            Common Carrier Bureau