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FCC on verge
of approving
Bell Atlantic,
GTE merger
The new company, Verizon,
From staff and wire reports
would become the primary
local-phone carrier for HawaiiWASHINGTON -- The anticipated merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. will create a telephone powerhouse with the most local lines and wireless customers in the nation.
A majority of the commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission have signed off on the deal, according to sources familiar with the process. While all the commissioners must cast their vote for a decision to be complete, a formal announcement of the approval could come as early as today, the sources said.
The combined business, to be called Verizon Communications, will control 63 million of the phone lines into people's homes -- making it the nation's largest local phone company -- and have a presence in more than 30 states. Verizon will serve more than 25 million wireless customers, with a footprint covering more than 90 percent of country.
GTE owns Hawaiian Tel, the state's largest telecommunications company and primary local phone service provider. It also owns GTE Wireless, GTE Americast, GTE Directories and GTE Internet. Keith Kamisugi, GTE's spokesman in Hawaii, said it may be weeks after the FCC approval before the merger is complete. He said local GTE customers should not expect any major changes immediately.
GTE in Hawaii
Companies: GTE Hawaiian Tel, GTE Directories, GTE Wireless
Kamisugi said the company's isle operation has not officially chosen a new name, but will likely localize the parent company's name, such as Verizon Hawaii.
The Bell-GTE merger, originally valued at $52 billion, is another example of the wave of consolidation that has taken over the telecommunications industry in recent years. Bell Atlantic is one of the four Bell companies still remaining of the original seven carved up from American Telephone & Telegraph in 1984. The Irving, Texas-based GTE, although not a Bell company, stands among the top local phone operators.
Together, the two will trump in size SBC Communications Inc. -- which last year combined with Bell company Ameritech to create a regional phone giant.
In April, Bell Atlantic launched Verizon Wireless, a result of its partnership with Vodafone AirTouch Plc, and begin to offer cellular, PCS and paging services under that name. The merger with GTE will boost Verizon's wireless holdings and GTE Wireless in Hawaii will become part of Verizon Wireless.
The two companies derived the name Verizon, which rhymes with "horizon," from two words: veritas, which means truth, and horizon.
The companies have proposed spinning off GTE's Internet assets into a new corporation, called Genuity. The merged Bell Atlantic/GTE would only have a 9.5 percent interest in the company. But once the combined business gets approval to offer long-distance in all of Bell Atlantic's territory, it will then be permitted to hold up to an 80 percent stake in Genuity. The deal has sparked criticism from some consumer advocates, who warn that a few big phone companies will now control a large number of U.S. phone lines.
