Before Verizon Communications Case Summary

Before Verizon Communications Government regulation helped to form the telephone industry. It wasn’t until 1996, when the Telecommunications Act was signed, that the focus was on more market-based policies. This new act was enacted to make companies more competitive. Market-based policies are based on the supply and demand model in the market place. It’s a way of removing some government restrictions. Before their merger, Bell Atlantic had revenues in 1999 of over $33 billion. They maintained 43 million access lines, which included 22 million households and 2 million businesses. GTE had revenues in 1999 of over $25 billion. GTE maintained 35 million access lines. GTE was also the leading wireless operator in the United States. They had more than 7.1 million wireless customers, but could serve as many as 72.5 million.

Bell Atlantic had customers in the United States (in 13 states), and other investments in Latin America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. GTE had their access lines through subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, and the Dominican Republic as well as through affiliates in Canada, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. Access lines are the landlines into a customer’s residence. This merger was valued at over $52 billion. Now together they would be a strong global company. The merger took two years to complete. It required review and approvals from Bell Atlantic and GTE shareholders, and from 27 state regulatory commissions and the Federal Communications Commission. The Department of Justice also had to clear the transaction, with many international agencies also involved in the process (Verizon,