TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Oracle-US West Venture Expected: Oracle Corp. and US West Inc. are expected to announce an agreement to provide electronic and video information services to businesses and consumers, analysts said. Oracle, a leading provider of database software, would provide the database to manage extremely large amounts of complex information, while US West would provide phone experience and a customer base of 25 million in 14 western states. The agreement is expected to focus on consumer services such as video movies, shopping guides and weather information.