NYNEX merged with Bell Atlantic in 1997, and the combined business retained the Bell Atlantic name.
The merger united two major regional Bell operating companies created after the 1984 breakup of AT&T. Bell Atlantic served customers primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, while NYNEX operated mainly in New England and New York.
The transaction expanded Bell Atlantic’s geographic reach and made it one of the largest U.S. telecommunications companies. The enlarged company later merged with GTE in 2000 and adopted the name Verizon Communications.
A common mix-up is to identify Verizon as the result of the 1997 transaction. Verizon was created by the later Bell Atlantic–GTE merger; NYNEX was the company involved in the earlier Bell Atlantic combination.