Arthur Andersen, which was WorldCom's former auditor, and 12 former directors of the telecommunications concern are also defendants in the case.

And that demand, most professionals agree, will come not mainly from telecommunications concerns but from companies that manage and store data for corporations.

And excess capacity among telecommunications concerns means more of the brutal shakeout investors have experienced.

U S West said it would retain an 81 percent stake in the telecommunications concern, which is engaged primarily in operating cellular telephone systems.

Along with the layoffs, the company, a telecommunications concern, is evaluating plans to cut back service in some of its 34 retail markets.

Both telecommunications concerns attributed their declines to a $242 million quarterly loss at U S Sprint, which they own in equal partnership.

An agreement would increase Vodafone's holding in Japan Telecom, that country's third-largest telecommunications concern, to 25 percent.

Many countries limit foreign ownership in telecommunications concerns or require partnerships with local firms - policies that limit the returns to foreign investors.

Contel, a telecommunications concern based in Atlanta, said it would finance the transaction with a combination of debt and equity.

Two new tenants, Communitech, a national telecommunications concern, and First Alliance, a national mortgage company, have signed leases.