SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report - September 19, 1996
(Date of earliest event reported)
GTE CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in
charter)
NEW YORK
(State or other jurisdiction of Incorporation)
1-2755 13-1678633
(Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification
No.)
ONE STAMFORD FORUM
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT 06904
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(203) 965-2000
GTE CORPORATION
FORM 8-K
ITEM OF INFORMATION
Item 5. Other Events
The following news release recently issued by GTE Corporation ("GTE")
is filed herewith on Form 8-K and, as such, made available to any and
all interested parties:
SUMMARY: GTE FILES MOTION FOR A STAY OF THE FCC INTERCONNECTION
ORDER WITH FEDERAL COURT OF APPEALS.
GTE has filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals to stay the
implementation of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC)
Interconnection Order, pending judicial review of that order.
In February, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996,
rewriting the 62-year old Communications Act. The FCC's order came in
the wake of Congressional removal of competitive barriers in the
telecommunications industry. "Congress passed the Act to deregulate
the industry, foster competition and spur investment, innovation and
job creation. The Act established the process for competitive entry
into local markets, and our action in the court in no way slows that
process down," said William P. Barr, GTE senior vice president and
general counsel. "Issuance of a stay will not affect the process;
parties will continue to negotiate under the Act, and state
commissions
will continue their arbitrations under the Act, as they are already
doing," Barr said.
"Congress explicitly rejected centralized rulemaking the FCC
wants
to establish with its flawed order. The Act provides a framework for
deregulation that relies first on marketplace negotiations and then
leaves unresolved issues to be decided by the states. The FCC is
trying
to override both the marketplace's and the states' role."
Under the order, local phone companies that have built and
operated
the local network would be required to wholesale both their services
and
parts of their network to resellers at prices substantially below
actual
cost. "The Act clearly states that Local Exchange Carriers (LECs)
must
be allowed to recover their costs, plus a reasonable profit, when
providing their networks to competitors," Barr said.
In its motion for appeal, GTE told the Court that if allowed to
take effect, the Commission's rules will cause irreparable harm to the
company, forcing it to subsidize the entry of inefficient competitors
into its local phone- service markets. By requiring states that are
arbitrating interconnection agreements to impose below-cost prices on
incumbent LECs, the FCC's rules will cause GTE to incur unnecessary
losses of revenue and market share before the Court can review the
validity of the Commission's actions, the company said in its legal
brief.
GTE's motion was filed on September 16 in the U.S. Court of
Appeals
for the 8th Circuit in St. Louis, which was selected to hear appeals
concerning the order. Nearly a dozen appeals have been filed on the
order by state regulatory commissions, the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and various other local telephone
companies.
GTE, a Stamford, Conn.-based telecommunications company, provides
local phone service in 28 states.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
GTE CORPORATION
(Registrant)
MARIANNE DROST
(Marianne Drost)
Secretary
Date: September 19, 1996
