QWEST Communications International Inc, the third-largest local phone company in the US, plans to cut 1,200 jobs and said sales and earnings this year will be at the low end of its forecasts as customers end service.

Third-quarter net income fell to US$151 million, or 9 US cents a share, from US$2.07 billion, or US$1.08, a year earlier when a tax-related gain lifted results. The firings will trim the workforce more than 3 percent, Qwest said yesterday.

Sales of high-speed Internet connections trailed estimates, and more consumers switched to cable companies like Comcast Corp that offer digital calling plans. Denver-based Qwest had 11.9 million active phone lines, a decline of 8.9 percent from a year earlier.

If the economy worsens, the pace of defections may pick up, said Donna Jaegers at D.A. Davidson & Co.

"You'll have more small businesses going under and consumers figuring out how they can reshuffle their budgets," said Jaegers, a Davidson analyst in Denver. Sales dropped 1.6 percent to US$3.38 billion in the quarter. Analysts' estimates averaged US$3.33 billion. Excluding US$63 million for severance payments and a US$33-million gain from a restructured lease, profit was about 10 US cents a share, in line with the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The company said 2008 revenue and profit will be at the low end of forecasts. Qwest had said sales would fall by as much as 2.5 percent from 2007.

Qwest gained 61,000 high-speed Internet subscribers last quarter, missing the 79,000 estimate of Christopher Larsen, an analyst at Credit Suisse in New York.

The new subscribers included 40,000 using faster speeds Qwest has begun offering to fight cable rivals.