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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  February  28,  2002  David  H.  Fiske  (202)  418-  0513 
 Dfiske@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  RULES  THAT  VERIZON  VIOLATED  MERGER  CONDITION 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  today  released  an  order  ruling  in  favor  of  Global  NAPs,  Inc.  (“  Global  NAPs”)  on  a  complaint  alleging  that  Verizon 
 Communications,  Verizon  New  England,  Inc.,  and  Verizon  Virginia,  Inc.  (collectively,  “Verizon”)  had  violated  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  Commission’s  approval  of  the  merger 
 application  of  Bell  Atlantic  Corp.  and  GTE  Corp.  The  condition  requires  Verizon  under  certain  specified  circumstances  to  permit  requesting  carriers  to  adopt  in  one  state  an  interconnection 
 agreement  that  was  voluntarily  negotiated  in  another  state.  The  Commission  concluded  that  Verizon  should  have  allowed  Global  NAPs  to  opt  into  certain  provisions  of  a  Rhode  Island 
 interconnection  agreement  for  use  in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  in  accordance  with  the  condition.  The  Commission,  however,  denied  Global  NAPs’  claim  for  damages  as  being 
 premature. 
 Action  by  the  Commission,  February  21,  2002,  Memorandum  Opinion  and  Order  (FCC  02-  59).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps,  and  Martin. 


 File  No.  EB-  01-  MD-  010 
 -  FCC  - 
 Enforcement  Bureau  Contact:  William  Davenport  at  (202)  418-  7450.  TTY:  1  (888)  835-  5322. 
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