DENVER -- Qwest Communications International has announced the details of a partnership with Microsoft Corp. that it says will make surfing the Internet more convenient to millions of its customers.

Qwest's five-year strategic alliance with MSN, announced in April, offers Qwest's broadband customers content and gives Microsoft an outlet to once again offer high-speed Internet access. MSN Internet service will become the main provider for Qwest's customers, who will also get more e-mail accounts and more memory for Web pages.

But some Qwest customers are upset.

"This is not a good deal," DenverChannel visitor Kent Schwarz said. "MSN requires proprietary software for access (and discourages) Netscape or other browsers ... No Macs, Linux or Windows machines older than Windows 98 can use it."

Although Qwest's dial-up customers will pay their current rate until next March, customers who have Qwest DSL and Qwest.net Internet Access will see a new combined rate for both their DSL transport line and their Internet access.

"I signed up for Qwest.net as my ISP, not MSN," Schwarz said. "Now I will have to pay $30 minimum to switch to a different ISP."

Customers affected by the agreement have been notified by e-mail.

MSN will offer Qwest's customers more than 2,500 access numbers. Qwest's business customers will not be affected and will keep their Qwest.net e-mail addresses.

The new services are called MSN Internet Access Powered by Qwest, and MSN Broadband Powered by Qwest. The company says that it will be available to more than 12 million customers in the 14 states where Qwest offers service.

"At the end of the day, we're not a content company and we're not a software company . . . to compete with the likes of MSN is kind of crazy," Qwest Chairman and CEO Joseph Nacchio said during a conference call in April.

For more information about MSN Internet Access services, contact Qwest at (800) 244-1111.

Wireless Billing Problems Continue

Meanwhile, Qwest wireless customers complain that they are having to wait for an hour or more to reach someone about billing problems.

TheDenverChannel broke a story on July 23 that said a computer glitch had caused about 14,000 Qwest cellphone users, about 1.4 percent of its 1 million cellphone customers, to receive astronomical bills in eror. Some Qwest wireless customers were charged as much as $600 a minute. The story was picked up by other media outlets over the next week.

Qwest blamed the bill snafu on a computer "upgrade error" and said that it was taking a "pro-active approach" and contacting the customers who were sent the erroneous bills to tell them that they were getting new, corrected bills.

Qwest also said that it had taken care of the problem as soon as it was discovered last month.

But Romy O'Daniel, 28, of Denver said that he received a 58-page, $1,209 cellphone bill on Monday. He also received a $540 cellphone bill a month ago, along with a disconnect notice. O'Daniel said that his average monthly bill is around $180. He said that he waited on hold for more than 45 minutes while trying to contact Qwest about the errors. He finally hung up.

Qwest blames media coverage for long holds to its customer service line.

Since last week, the message on Qwest's wireless customer-service phone number (800-879-0611) has stated: "Due to the high level of media coverage our billing issues have received, we are receiving unusually high call volumes. You may experience long hold times."

"The (billing) problem has been fixed," said Catherine Murphy, a spokeswoman for Qwest.

"The media attention caused a number of customers who have not been affected by the problem to call in and ask questions about their bills. We were proactive in informing our customers," she said. Customers who received the wrong bills were notified through text messages on their cellphones and letters in the mail, Murphy said.

O'Daniel said that he has received no such notification.