TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Long-Distance Rates Fall: A cutthroat battle among long-distance phone companies for the $26-billion home market has forced down prices to a low of $3.90 an hour for calls within the United States. That rate, offered by Sprint Corp., is good on weekends only and expires in July, but it undercuts any other price available from the three major carriers. One analyst said Kansas City-based Sprint has to compete on price because it is smaller than MCI Communications Corp., the No. 2 carrier after American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Sprint has about 10% of the U.S. phone market, compared to MCI’s 19% and AT&T;’s 60%. Sprint’s offer beat MCI’s night and evening rate of 8.8 cents a minute. AT&T;’s bargain rates are the highest, at 10.8 cents per minute.