According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Qwest Communications International is expected to make a revised offer for long-distance phone company MCI sometime this week. In a letter sent to MCI's board last Thursday and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Qwest chairman and CEO Richard Notebaert expressed heartache over MCI turning down his offer. Qwest also made details of its original $8 billion offer public. Even though Qwest's offer was considerably higher than Verizon Communications' $6.75 billion bid, MCI accepted Verizon's offer.

According to thestreet.com by taking its bid for MCI public, Qwest hoped MCI shareholders would force the board to consider its offer and allow the company to sweeten the proposal if need be. So far it appears to have some effect, MCI Inc. shareholder Joseph Pojanowski III sued to block the long-distance telephone company's $6.6 billion takeover by Verizon Communications Inc., saying the price was too low reports Reuters/

Even though Qwest has stated it has backers on hand to supply money, some analysts say Qwest still has a weak hand and that its rebidding ploy isn't likely to succeed. The decision to appeal to shareholders is likely to end in either a higher Verizon offer or a formal rejection from MCI's board, the analysts say.