by Global Crossing Ltd., could have a response by week's end to a surprise takeover offer from Qwest Communications International Inc., sources familiar with the situation said.

Frontier's board has not yet met to consider Qwest's offer, but sources familiar with the situation expect the Rochester, New York-based local and long distance phone company to meet later this week. The board could have a response shortly thereafter. Qwest, the No. 4 US long distance company, on Sunday made unsolicited bids to buy Frontier and local phone company U S West Inc. in an effort to woo them away from Global Crossing.

Qwest said it has no current plans to sweeten its bid despite the sharp drop in its stock price, which eroded most of the financial premium it had offered to pay. Rival Global Crossing also plans to keep its offer unchanged, sources familiar with the situation said. U S West and Frontier must now weigh the two offers, which are currently financially similar, with the offers from both companies valued between $42 billion to $44 billion.

Both Frontier and U S West said they would review Qwest's proposal but declined further comment. Shares of Qwest gained 87.5 cents to $35.75, while Global Crossing slipped 6 cents to $48.25. Both trade on Nasdaq.

Shares of Frontier added 25 cents to $57.875, while U S West added 87.5 cents to $57 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The boards of U S West and Frontier must deem Qwest's bids superior before they could hold negotiations with the Denver-based long distance company.

Without a strong rebound in Qwest's stock price, the boards are unlikely to select Qwest's proposals, some analysts said. U S West would owe an $850 million break-up fee to Global Crossing if it terminated the deal.

Salomon Smith Barney said in a recent research report that Qwest's stock would need to trade at about $36 a share to break-even with Global Crossing's deal with U S West and above $40 a share to rival the Global Crossing-Frontier deal.

Lazard Freres & Co. analyst Matthew Janiga, however, said Wednesday in a research report that he believes Qwest's bids are currently stronger and Global Crossing may be forced to re-evaluate its deals.

"We believe that Global Crossing's share price could be negatively affected if it were to leave the table empty handed, without U S West or Frontier,'' Janiga said. Analysts said Global Crossing and Qwest eventually could reach a compromise that allows each company to acquire the assets they need most.

Global Crossing, which has undersea fibre optic networks, needs Frontier's domestic communications network more than it needs U S West's local phone, data and wireless assets, analysts said. Analysts said Bermuda-based Global Crossing could strengthen its offer for Frontier and walk away from the U S West deal, a deal investors had not favoured. Global Crossing's stock has fallen about 21 percent since it announced the U S West deal in mid-May.

Frontier, meanwhile, would be somewhat redundant for Qwest since the two companies have overlapping fibre optic networks, analysts said.

Both Global Crossing and Qwest contend that their offers are superior. Qwest met with large, institutional shareholders this week to outline its strategy behind the surprise bids and its future growth potential, sources said. Some investors were shocked that Qwest, which has primarily focused on business customers, was now making an expensive play for U S West, a mostly residential phone company serving 14 states from Minnesota to Washington.