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HawTel becomes
Verizon Hawaii

The new name will be gradually
phased in due to the just-concluded
GTE-Bell Atlantic merger

Star-Bulletin staff

Verizon Hawaii became the new name of GTE Hawaiian Tel today, following Friday's merger of GTE Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp.

Gov. Ben Cayetano issued a proclamation making it official, calling July 6 "Verizon Day in Hawaii." But changing the name on everything from trucks to pay phones will take more than a day.

Customers can expect Verizon's name to replace GTE on phone bills by August, spokesman Keith Kamisugi said.

"It's not going to change too drastically," he noted. "We've worked real hard at making the phone bill simpler."

GTE's 7,500 pay phones and its phone marts will switch to Verizon's brand within the next two months, he said.

This year's newly released phone books -- prominently displaying GTE on the cover -- will not be reissued, but will carry the Verizon name next year.

GTE Wireless, already merged into Verizon earlier this year, has already switched signs to Verizon Wireless.

But Oahu's 10,000-subscriber GTE Americast cable TV system is up for sale. Verizon Hawaii's New York-based parent, Verizon Communications, put several cable TV units on the block on Monday.

Verizon Hawaii employs 2,600 in Hawaii and generated $679.1 million in revenues last year. It serves 660,000 customers on all islands, and its statewide infrastructure is worth $2 billion. The business was founded in Hawaii as Mutual Telephone in 1883.

On Monday, GTE and Bell Atlantic were dropped from trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Verizon began NYSE trading under the symbol "VZ". Bell Atlantic bought GTE in a $75 billion deal.