EVERETT, Wash. - Verizon Communications, the national telecommunications company formed by the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic, expects to complete the sale of approximately 21,000 customer access lines that serve 12 exchanges to the Alaska Telephone Exchange Acquisition Corporation, (ATEAC), Inc. on Aug. 31.
The sales agreement was announced in May 1999. This transaction is part of the company's previously announced initiative to sell approximately 1.6 million telephone lines in the United States. Proceeds from the sale will be used to invest in other strategic initiatives.
ATEAC is an alliance of four Alaska local exchange telephone companies: Alaska Power & Telephone (APT); Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC); TelAlaska, Inc., and United Companies. The ATEAC partner companies currently provide telecommunications services to 104 Alaskan communities located in the regions surrounding all of the former GTE Alaska properties. Upon completion of the sale, the exchanges will be owned and operated as follows:
- Alaska Power & Telephone - Haines, Metlakatla, Petersburg, Wrangell, Klukwan
- Arctic Slope Telephone - Barrow
- TelAlaska - Moose Pass, Seward, Nome
- United-KUC - Bethel, McGrath, Unalakleet
The impact on service will be virtually transparent to customers. All customer accounts will automatically transfer to the respective companies, and customers will receive bills from those companies beginning in September. All former GTE Alaska employees will become employees of ATEAC.
Following the sale, customers in Alaska should call ATEAC for assistance. The ATEAC numbers are:
- Alaska Power & Telephone - 907/766-2311 (Haines, Klukwan), 907/886-5100 (Metlakatla), 907/772-3000 (Petersburg), 907/874-3000 (Wrangell)
- Arctic Slope Telephone - 800/478-6409
- TelAlaska - 800/478-3127 (Moose Pass & Seward); 800/478-7055 (Nome)
- United-KUC - 907/543-2200 (Bethel only); 800/478-2020 (all exchanges)
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 100 million access line equivalents and 25.6 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com .