In a landmark selloff AT&T will acquire the remaining wireline assets from Verizon Communications. A Union agreement will also be included in the purchase agreement for a five year contract with a $10,000 ratification bonus to the nearly 38,000 Union based employees. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
About AT&T :
AT&T Corp., originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. During its long history, AT&T was at times the world's largest telephone company, the world's largest cable television operator, and a regulated monopoly. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, it employed one million people and its revenue was roughly $3 billion annually.
About Verizon:
What eventually became Verizon was founded as Bell Atlantic, which was one of the seven Baby Bells that were formed after AT&T Corporation was forced to relinquish its control of the Bell System by order of the Justice Department of the United States. Bell Atlantic came into existence in 1984 with a footprint from New Jersey to Virginia, with each area having a separate operating company (consisting of New Jersey Bell, Bell of Pennsylvania, Diamond State Telephone, and C&P Telephone).