[boatbums]

Bell Atlantic and Nynex merged and became Verizon. Verizon then bought out GTE, giving Verizon a nationwide footprint.

It was when Bell Atlantic bought GTE that they changed the name to Verizon. I was there.

[boatbums]

Actually...it was a “merger” of Bell Atlantic and GTE and the merged company was called Verizon. We all thought it was a strange name for a telecom.

[deweyfrank]

You are correct. I guess the old memory isn’t what it used to be. I retired in 97. After the Nynex merger and before the GTE merger. Although I officially retired from BA, the Verizon name and the GTE merger was being kicked around then. It became official as of the merger with GTE.