ended in a compromise yesterday as U S West accepted an unsolicited merger offer from Qwest Communications International Inc. and Frontier Corp. chose to stay with its existing partner, Bermuda-registered Global Crossing Ltd.

Global Crossing said yesterday its definitive $11.3 billion merger agreement with local and long-distance phone company Frontier remained intact as Qwest withdrew its competing $12.4 billion bid. U S West, meanwhile, terminated its $30.7 billion merger pact with Global Crossing and accepted Qwest's $35.6 billion deal.

In ending its pursuit of U S West, Global Crossing said the two companies negotiated a revised break-up fee. Additional details were not immediately available.

Qwest, the No. 4 US long-distance company, last month raised its offers to buy both U S West and Frontier in a second attempt to woo them away from their current suitor Global Crossing.

Qwest and Global Crossing, telecommunications start-ups building fibre optic communications networks, each wanted U S West and Frontier for their local telephone connections, broad customer bases and data and wireless assets.

The compromise allows Global Crossing, which has undersea fiber optic networks, to gain Frontier's domestic network and get a crucial foothold in the United States.