MCI Communications settled an antitrust lawsuit.

The out-of-court settlement with Continental Telecom was the first reached with 32 telephone companies named by MCI in a more than $1-billion antitrust suit expected to go to trial in December. Terms of the agreement with Atlanta-based Contel were not disclosed. The case, filed in 1979 against the Bell System and various independent telephone companies including Contel, charged AT&T; with monopolizing the long-distance telephone business by denying MCI equal access and interconnection to the local phone network.