Bell Atlantic, GTE Complete Merger Approvals at State Level.Business Editors NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2000 With the approval of the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger today by the California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, , the companies said they have successfully completed the merger approval process at the state level. All 27 state commissions that conducted proceedings on the merger have approved it. The remaining 23 states declined to assert jurisdiction on the merger. "All states that ruled on the merger found it to be pro-competitive," said Charles R. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of GTE GTE General Telephone & Electronics GTE Génie Thermique et Énergie (French) GTE Gas Turbine Engine GTE Global Tropospheric Experiment GTE Geothermal Energy GTE Gas Turbine Efficiency plc (Sweden & USA) and chairman and co-chief executive officer of the new company. "These state commissions received volumes of comments from the public and our competitors. Most held extensive hearings on the merger. All exhaustively investigated the merger and each independently concluded the merger would benefit the telephone customers in their state." Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic and president and co-chief executive officer of the merged company, said, "With the state commission approvals behind us, we can now focus on our application at the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. , the last approval that is required for the merger to close. The state commissions recognized that the combined company's long distance, wireless and data capabilities across Bell Atlantic's territories and GTE's national footprint promise a strong competitor that will be able to offer innovative service packages to satisfy customer needs." The companies submitted a formal proposal on Jan. 27 to the FCC on how they will meet regulatory requirements and proposed a set of comprehensive commitments to facilitate prompt approval of their merger. The U.S. Department of Justice has given its clearance, as have shareholders of the two companies. The merger also has received endorsements from the AFL-CIO AFL-CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. , the Communications Workers of America Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States (the union also has locals in Canada), representing over 700,000 workers in both the private and public sectors. , the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a labor union which represents workers in the electrical industry in the United States and Canada, particularly electricians, or Inside Wiremen, in the construction industry and linemen and other employees of public , and many national and local community-based organizations. States in which approval was required included: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia Washington is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wood County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,170 at the 2000 census. The CDP is home to the Washington Works, one of the largest single facilities of chemicals manufacturing giant DuPont. , and Wyoming. More information on the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.mergerinfo.com. |
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