Ten Years Ago... Challenging the Telephone Merger

Challenging the Telephone Merger
[SOURCE: New York Times 2/13/1997, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Then-New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco surprised some by opposing the Bell Atlantic-Nynex merger ten years ago, but his brief, filed with the state's Public Service Commission, "is a cogent reminder why the merger could harm New Yorkers." The merger would not only remove Bell Atlantic as a potential competitor in New York for Nynex, which had a dismal customer service record, the combined company could easily scare away other potential competitors. The companies said that the equipment Bell Atlantic used to serve its New Jersey customers operates at capacity and could not be used to provide service to New Yorkers in the absence of a merger. Yet the companies also asserted that a merger would somehow allow them to combine operations in a way that would produce substantial savings. Exactly how these wonderful benefits would come about remains mysterious.
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