FRAMINGHAM (07/06/2000) - Forget about Bell Atlantic Corp. And GTE Corp., too.
The two have officially merged, and the new entity is Verizon Communications (pronounced like horizon). The merger gives the company one of the richest local exchange markets in the world and a nationwide long-distance network, a combination that sets it up to be one of the super-carriers that will emerge from the current telecommunications competitive turmoil.www.bell-atl.com; www.gte.comTeligent Inc. and the second largest telecommunications service provider in Germany, Mannesmann Arcor AG, recently announced a joint venture called ArcTel.
ArcTel will offer voice, data and Internet access services to business customers in Germany as well as broadband fixed wireless services in 44 markets by November. ArcTel, through Teligent and Mannesmann, already has 198 wireless licenses in the 3.5-GHz and 26-GHz spectrums. Teligent has been expanding beyond the U.S. this year with rollouts in Argentina, Hong Kong, Spain and France.www.teligent.com; www. arcor.deWinStar Communications, one of Teligent's fixed wireless service provider rivals, is also expanding overseas. This week WinStar announced it has been granted a fixed wireless license in Peru. It will build a fixed wireless network that uses the 200-MHz spectrum in Lima, with services due in mid-2001.
WinStar is also expanding outside the U.S. WinStar has been issued spectrum licenses in Tokyo, London and Buenos Aires and already offers services in 12 markets in Europe, Asia and South America.www.winstar.com.