NYNEX
Encyclopedia
NYNEX Corporation (ˈnaɪnɛks) was a telephone
company that served five New England
states (Maine
, Massachusetts
, New Hampshire
, Rhode Island
and Vermont
) as well as most of New York
state, except the Rochester area, from 1984 through 1997.
Formed January 1, 1984, as a result of the Bell System
Divestiture
, NYNEX was a Regional Bell operating company
made up of former AT&T
subsidiaries New York Telephone Company
and New England Telephone
. Hence, the name NYNEX stood for New York/New England, with the X representing the unknown future (or "the uneXpected"), but the X is also widely believed to mean eXchange. Bell Atlantic bought NYNEX on August 14, 1997, in what was, at the time, the second largest merger in American corporate history. The corporate headquarters was moved from Philadelphia to New York City
. On June 30, 2000, Bell Atlantic acquired GTE
to form Verizon Communications
.
NYNEX is now known as Verizon's "Northeast Bureau".
NYNEX also operated cable television
and telephone services in the United Kingdom
, with offices in Waterlooville
(Hampshire
), Baguley
(Manchester
), Shoreham-by-Sea
(West Sussex
), Leatherhead
(Surrey
) and Antrim
(Northern Ireland
). In 1997, the UK assets of NYNEX were merged with the Cable & Wireless
subsidiary Mercury Communications
and cable operators Vidéotron
and Bell Cablemedia, and renamed as Cable & Wireless Communications. Cable & Wireless's cable assets were sold to NTL in 2000. In 2006, NTL merged with telewest
and later re-branded on 8 February 2007 as Virgin Media
.
", the character known as "Phreak" (Renoly Santiago
) refers to himself as "The King of NYNEX". Presumably referring to his illegal abilities to manipulate telephone systems in the New York area where the majority of the film is set. As of 2011 the Nynex logo/trademark is still maintained on the sitemap page of Verizon.com.
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
company that served five New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
states (Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
) as well as most of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state, except the Rochester area, from 1984 through 1997.
Formed January 1, 1984, as a result of the Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
Divestiture
Bell System divestiture
The Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...
, NYNEX was a Regional Bell operating company
Regional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
made up of former AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
subsidiaries New York Telephone Company
New York Telephone
The New York Telephone Company was organized in 1896, taking over the New York City operations of the American Bell Telephone Company.-Predecessor companies:...
and New England Telephone
New England Telephone
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, more commonly known as New England Telephone, was a Bell Operating Company that served most of the New England area of the United States as a part of the original AT&T for seven decades, from the creation of the national monopoly in 1907 until...
. Hence, the name NYNEX stood for New York/New England, with the X representing the unknown future (or "the uneXpected"), but the X is also widely believed to mean eXchange. Bell Atlantic bought NYNEX on August 14, 1997, in what was, at the time, the second largest merger in American corporate history. The corporate headquarters was moved from Philadelphia to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On June 30, 2000, Bell Atlantic acquired GTE
GTE
GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
to form Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
.
NYNEX is now known as Verizon's "Northeast Bureau".
NYNEX also operated cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and telephone services in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, with offices in Waterlooville
Waterlooville
Waterlooville is a town in Hampshire, England approximately 8 miles north of Portsmouth.The town has a population itself of about 10,000 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of...
(Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
), Baguley
Baguley
Baguley is a locality in Wythenshawe, and an electoral ward of the city of Manchester in North West England.Historically within Cheshire, the town is mentioned as Bagelei in the Domesday Book of 1086.-History:...
(Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
), Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
(West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
), Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
(Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
) and Antrim
Antrim, County Antrim
Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...
(Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
). In 1997, the UK assets of NYNEX were merged with the Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...
subsidiary Mercury Communications
Mercury Communications
Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom. The company was formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless to challenge the monopoly of British Telecom which was privatised in 1984...
and cable operators Vidéotron
Vidéotron
Vidéotron GP is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Currently, the company primarily serves Quebec, as well as the francophone...
and Bell Cablemedia, and renamed as Cable & Wireless Communications. Cable & Wireless's cable assets were sold to NTL in 2000. In 2006, NTL merged with telewest
Telewest
Telewest, formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications was a cable Internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom...
and later re-branded on 8 February 2007 as Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
.
Film references
In the 90s film "HackersHackers (film)
Hackers is a 1995 American thriller film directed by Iain Softley and starring Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller, Renoly Santiago, Matthew Lillard, Lorraine Bracco and Fisher Stevens...
", the character known as "Phreak" (Renoly Santiago
Renoly Santiago
Renoly Santiago is a Puerto Rican actor, singer and writer who has appeared in a number of high-profile Hollywood productions....
) refers to himself as "The King of NYNEX". Presumably referring to his illegal abilities to manipulate telephone systems in the New York area where the majority of the film is set. As of 2011 the Nynex logo/trademark is still maintained on the sitemap page of Verizon.com.
See also
- Western ElectricWestern ElectricWestern Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
- Bell Atlantic
- FairPoint CommunicationsFairPoint CommunicationsFairPoint Communications, Inc. is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and operates communication services in 32 markets in 18 states, mostly in rural areas....
- Verizon CommunicationsVerizon CommunicationsVerizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
External links
- Verizon Communications
- The History of Verizon Communications - Investor Relations - Corporate History - Verizon Communications
- Charlie Rose Episode with Raymond W. SmithRaymond W. SmithRaymond W. Smith is currently the Chairman of Rothschild Continuation Investments, Founding Partner of Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and Chairman of Verizon Ventures.-Career:...
, Chairman & CEO of Bell Atlantic and Ivan SeidenbergIvan SeidenbergIvan Seidenberg was the Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. He is also the current Chairman of the Business Roundtable. Effective Aug. 1, Lowell McAdam, currently President and COO of Verizon Communications, will succeed Seidenberg as CEO...
, Chairman & CEO of Nynex - Bell Operating Companies