INDESIT TYPE TC26SI CHASSIS B VV708 CRT TUBE GTE SYLVANIA A67-200X

CRT TUBE GTE SYLVANIA A67-200X Resistive electrical conductive coating for use in a cathode ray tube:

A high resistive electrical conductive coating of discrete composition is provided for band-like deposition in a defined area of the interior surface of substantially the funnel member of a cathode ray tube envelope between the region of the high potential transversal therethrough and the electron generating means oriented in the contiguous neck portion. The coating is an amorphous deposition of a homogeneous mixture of a vitreous substantially insulative frit material admixed with at least one particulate material selected from the group consisting essentially of cadmium oxide, indium oxide and copper oxide wherein the individual particles of the respective oxide ingredients are uniformly dispersed and encapsulated to provide a discretely defined resistive structural means for effecting arc suppression in the region of the electron generating assembly.


1. An improved high resistive electrical conductive composition formulated for application to a defined area of the interior surface of a cathode ray tube envelope during tube fabrication to provide an amorphous deposition thereon, said resistive composition comprising a homogeneous mixture of:
substantially 35 to 65 weight percent of a particulate amorphous type vitreous substantially insulative frit material compatible with said tube environment and having a softening point in the temperature range of substantially 350° C. to 450° C., said frit material being comprised principally of substantially 70 to 85 weight percent of PbO, 5 to 15 weight percent of B₂ O₃, 2 to 10 weight percent of Al₂ O₃, and 3 to 5 weight percent of SiO₂, said frit material having a particle size averaging within the range of substantially 1.0 to 35.0 microns;
substantially 65 to 35 weight percent of at least one particulate material selected from the group consisting essentially of cadmium oxide, indium oxide and copper oxide homogeneously admixed with said frit, said metal oxide ingredients having a distribution of particles averaging within the range of substantially 1.0 to 10.0 microns in size;
binder solids within the range of substantially 0.1 to 0.5 weight percent; and
solvent means for binder solids, said solvent means being compatible with said tube environment and of a quantity to provide a dispersing medium for said mixture and to impart a viscosity thereto of a value within the range of substantially 150 to 1000 centipoise.
2. The improved resistive composition according to claim 1 wherein said amorphous type vitreous frit material exhibits a softening temperature in the order of substantially 370° C. and comprises substantially 35 to 45 weight percent of said composition and wherein said oxide material is present in substantially 65 to 55 weight percent. 3. The improved resistive composition according to claim 1 wherein said amorphous type vitreous frit material exhibits a softening temperature in the order of substantially 440° C. and comprises substantially 50 to 65 weight percent of said composition, and wherein said oxide material is present in substantially 50 to 35 weight percent. 4. The improved resistive composition according to claim 1 wherein said binder solids are in the form of 1% nitrocellulose dissolved in an ester.

Description:

A co-pending application Ser. No. 683,647, filed May 6, 1976, now abandoned and assigned to the assignee of the present invention is a division of Ser. No. 600,784 containing matter disclosed but not claimed therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to cathode ray tube construction and more particularly to a high resistive electrical conductive coating employed for suppressing deleterious arcing therein.
The advancement of cathode ray tube technology has resulted in marked improvements in both tube construction and the operational considerations relating thereto, including a trend toward the utilization of higher screen potentials along with the miniaturization and compaction of associated electron gun structures encompassed within the envelope neck portions of smaller diameters. Consequently, spacings between related electrode components in the electron gun structure of the tube have been reduced in keeping with advanced design parameters. The minuteness of these interelectrode spacings, in conjunction with the high voltage differential existant within the tube, and the presence of possible contaminants, increases the probability of dielectric breakdown within the tube structure.
It has been conventional practice in cathode ray tube construction to apply an electrical conductive coating on the interior surface of the funnel member of the tube envelope in a manner to extend from substantially the vicinity of the cathodoluminescent screen into the forward region of the adjoining neck member. This coating, which usually has a high positive electrical potential applied thereto, via connective means traversing the wall of the funnel member, serves as a connective medium conveying a high electrical potential of substantially a common value to both the screen and the terminal electrode of the electron gun assembly oriented within the neck member of the tube envelope. Thus, the condition is present for the possible generation of a spark discharge between the terminal electrode and the adjacent lower voltage electrode in the gun assembly, especially in the presence of aggravating elements such as sublimation deposits, foreign particles, and minute projections extending into the inter-electrode spacings. While considerable effort is expended during tube manufacturing to minimize the factors contributing to dielectric breakdown, the utilization of anode potentials in the order of 30 KV and higher makes the possible presence of contributable arcing conditions factors of extreme importance. Arcing or dielectric breakdown within the cathode ray tube has always been an undesired probability, the magnitude of which has been found to sometimes exhibit destructive intensities of 100 amperes or more. With the increased employment of solid state components in television and allied display devices, arcing within the cathode ray tube can produce catastrophic effects on the vulnerable components in the externally associated operating circuitry. Additionally, an arc discharge initiated within the tube may seriously damage the internal structure thereof and resultantly promote leakage through the sublimation of deleterious metallic deposits on related surfaces in the region of the gun structure.
Cleanliness, precision, vigilance and care in the tube manufacturing process are ever continuing procedures employed to combat the materializing of conditions conductive for arcing. Nevertheless, human factors, processing sublimates, manufacturing tolerances and procedural variations may combine to produce an undesirable and aggravative situation. The discrete use of high resistance coatings on defined interior areas of the funnel member of the envelope has been tried. For example, one such technique is that disclosed by A. V. de Vere Krause in U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,292, wherein a band of resistive coating is internally applied to substantially the juncture region of the funnel and neck members of the tube envelope whereat the snubbers on the terminal electrode of the electron generating assembly make plural-point contact with the high resistance arcing to limit the spark discharge current in the region of the electron gun. However, it has been found in high anode potential tubes that the assembly snubbers tend to effect high resistance point contact with the resistive coating, a condition which is prone to produce intense heat during tube processing when a high voltage conditioning potential of 40 KV or more may be applied to the anode. Such localized heating may cause a buildup of deleterious field emission, ionization and ultimate rupture or checking of the glass wall of the neck member. Additionally, difficulties have been encountered in achieving high resistive electrical conductive coatings that evince uniformity, consistently exhibit the desired electrical characteristics and manifest the necessary tenacious bonding to the surface of the envelope. Since the minimization and eliminating of arcing in present-day color cathode ray tubes is assuming ever increasing importance, it is a prime concern in tube manufacturing to achieve an expedient and consistent coating means for adequately controlling the probable arcing environment within the cathode ray tube per se.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to reduce and obviate the aforementioned disadvantages that are evidenced in the prior art. Another object of the invention is to provide improved resistive coating means for consistently effecting improved internal arc suppression within a cathode ray tube. It is a further object of the invention to provide improved arc suppression within a cathode ray tube by utilizing an improved and discretely constituted high resistive electrical conductive coating that is capable of being disposed on the wall of the envelope in an expedient and economical manner during tube manufacturing.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved in one aspect of the invention wherein improved arc suppression within a cathode ray tube is achieved by disposing a high resistive electrical conductive coating on a portion of the interior surface of the envelope intermediate a forwardly-oriented first low resistive coating and a rearwardly-oriented second low resistive coating disposed in the neck region forward of the electron generating assembly. The high resistive coating of the invention is comprised of an amorphous deposition of a homogeneous mixture of a vitreous frit material admixed with at least one particulate material selected from the group consisting essentially of cadmium oxide, indium oxide and copper oxide. The frit component of the mixture has a softening point in the range of substantially 350°-450° C. and a coefficient of expansion compatible with the glass composition of the envelope portion upon which the mixture is adhered. The amount of frit material in the deposition is within the range of substantially 35 to 65 percent by weight of the mixture depending upon the frit material utilized wherein the individual particles of the respective oxide or oxides are uniformly dispersed and substantially encapsulated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The single FIGURE is a cross-sectional elevation of a cathode ray tube wherein an exemplary embodiment of the improved and discretely constituted high resistive coating of the invention is disposed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects, advantages, and capabilities thereof, reference is made to the following specification and appended claims in connection with the aforedescribed drawing.
While the invention is applicable for utilization in conventional cathode ray tubes employed in both monochrome and color television application and allied image reproducing systems, for purposes of illustration, a color cathode ray tube utilizing a multi-apertured shadow mask and a plural beam electron generating assembly will be described in this specification.
With particular reference to the drawing, a plural beam color cathode ray tube 11 is illustrated as having an envelope 13 comprised of an integration of neck 15, funnel 17, and viewing panel 19 members; whereof the panel member and the integrated funnel-neck section are hermetically joined by frit sealing during tube fabrication along a congruent sealing region 21 therebetween. A patterned cathodoluminescent screen 23, of diverse color-emitting phosphor areas, is formed on the interior surface of the viewing panel as an array of definitive stripes or dots, in keeping with the known state of the art. A multi-apertured structure 25, in this instance a shadow mask, having openings discretely shaped in keeping with the pattern of the screen, is oriented within the viewing panel by a plurality of locator means 27, in spatial relationship to the patterned screen therein.
An exemplary and partially detailed plural beam electron generating assembly 29 is positioned within the neck member of the envelope and oriented to project a plurality of electron beams in a manner to effect convergence at the apertured mask 25 and thence impinge the patterned screen 23 therebeyond.
It has been conventional practice to dispose electrical conductive coatings on both the interior and exterior surfaces of the funnel member of the tube. These coatings in conjunction with the intervening glass wall of the funnel form a capacitive filtering effect which is utilized in the operational circuitry of the associated television or image display device. The exterior coating 31 on the funnel member is an electrical conductive material, such as Aquadag, and is disposed on a portion of the external surface thereof extending from substantially the region adjacent the panel-funnel seal 21 to approximately the mid-region of the funnel 17.
In the example shown, the interior surface of the funnel member has a tripartite electrical connective-resistive system discretely disposed thereon whereof a first low resistive electrical conductive coating 33, such as an Aquadag composition, is applied in a substantially perimetrical manner on the forward areal portion thereof proximal to the sealing region 21. An electrical potential, for both the screen 23 and the terminal electrode member 35 of the electron generating assembly 29, is applied to this carbonaceous coating composition via a funnel-disposed electrical transversal or connective button 37. Circumferentially contiguous with the rear boundary of the first low resistive coating 33, is a high resistive electrical conductive coating composition 39 of substantially a glass and metal oxide mixture which is uniformly disposed and tenaciously bonded in a substantially perimetrical manner to the interior surface of substantially the rearward portion of the funnel. This high resistive coating is disposed as a skirt-like formation which extends to substantially the neck member 15 whereat it makes contact with a narrow defined band of a second low resistance coating 14 that exhibits scratch resistant characteristics and tight adherence to the glass. This second coating serves as a buss-bar connector providing an area of contact for the multiple contacting elements or snubbers 43 associated with the terminal electrode of the electron generating assembly 29 oriented within the neck member of the envelope.
In a typical electron generating assembly the operational high positive voltage of the anode or terminal electrode 35 may be of a potential in the order of 30 KV or more, applied through the funnel-wall transversal button 37, while the voltage on the adjacent focusing electrode 45 in the assembly 29 is within the range of about 17 to 20 percent of the anode voltage. Thus, it is highly desirable to employ current-limiting and arc-inhibiting coating means within the cathode ray tube envelope.

The tripartite connective-resistive system, provided by the respective electrically related coatings 33, 39 and 41, disposed on the interior surface of the envelope provides an electrical conductive path incorporating a low voltage DC resistance of a value preferably in the multi-megohm range. It has been found that resistance values of this size markedly limit the current and inhibit the initiation of possible deleterious arcing in vulnerable regions. In tubes employing the tripartite combination of coatings as described and shown, the peak arcing currents are significantly reduced to non-destructive magnitude.
In greater detail, the first low resistive conductive coating 33 of the tripartite electrical conductive system is forwardly oriented on the funnel member 17, and may be a conventional carbonaceous coating composition such as Aquadag in conjunction with a water base potassium or sodium silicate binder. This coating is representative of the type commonly disposed on the interior of the funnel and may be applied in a perimetrical manner during funnel preparation by spraying or brushing techniques practiced in the art. While this particular coating may manifest limited scratch resistance, in this instance it is restricted to a region of the funnel whereat there is a minimum risk of accidental abrasion.
The improved high resistive coating 39 of the invention is applied to a discrete area of the funnel as a perimetrical deposition contiguous to and rearward to the first low resistive coating 33, extending therefrom to the neck member 15. This high resistive coating 39 is an amorphous deposition of a homogeneous mixture of a vitreous frit material admixed with at least one particulate material selected from the group consisting essentially of cadmium oxide, indium oxide and copper oxide. Broadly, the frit component exhibits insulative characteristics, a softening point in the range of substantially 350° to 450° C. and a coefficient of expansion compatible with that of the glass composition of the envelope portion to which the deposition is applied. An amorphous vitreous glass is one that retains its glassy structure and does not exhibit devitrification or crystallization during heat transformation. Such glasses applicable to this invention are those, for example, comprised principally of substantially 70 to 85 weight percent PbO, 5 to 15 weight percent B ₂ O ₃ , 2 to 10 weight percent Al ₂ O ₃ , and 3 to 5 weight percent SiO ₂ . Appropriate examples of suitable frit materials of this type are glass solder frits designated as No. 8463 and No. 7570 respectively, such being commercially available from the Corning Glass Works, Corning, N.Y. These solder glass materials are low melting temperature amorphous vitreous compositions that are completely compatible with the glass of the funnel member. The No. 8463 material is representative of a low melting frit composition having a softening temperature in the order of 370° C.; while the No. 7570 frit is one exhibiting a softening temperature in the order of 440° C. Another exemplary material intermediate to the aforementioned, is one such as frit No. 7555 which has a softening point of substantially 410° C.
An example of the improved current limiting high resistive composition of the invention is achieved by homogeneously admixing one or more of the previously defined particulate oxides, which are inherently electrically conductive, with one of the aforementioned powdered vitreous insulative frit materials. It has been found that the particle sizes of the constituent materials are important in achieving a mixture wherein the particles of, for instance, cadmium oxide are subsequently homogeneously embedded in and substantially encapsulated with glass to provide a resultant tightly-adherent coating exhibiting consistent resistive-conductive characteristics throughout the bulk of the deposition. The particle size distribution of the respective powdered vitreous frit material is within the range of substantially 1.0 to 35.0 microns in size, while the particulate cadmium oxide is of a size distribution within the range of substantially 1.0 to 10.0 microns in size.
An exemplary homogeneous mixture of the particulate components is constituted whereof the No. 7570 vitreous frit material is preferably within the range of substantially 50 to 65 weight percent and the admixed cadmium oxide preferably within the range of substantially 35 to 50 weight percent. The resistive value of the composition can be modified by adjusting the proportions of the frit material and the oxide within the ranges indicated. To effect desired adherence, the amount of the No. 7570 frit material should be at least 50 weight percent of the deposition. For example, a mixture of substantially 60 to 65 weight percent of frit material and substantially 35 to 40 weight percent of cadmium oxide disposed as a 3 to 5 mils finished thickness will provide excellent adherence and an adequate resistance of approximately 2 megohms.
In utilizing the No. 8463 vitreous frit material in the homogeneous mixture, the frit component is preferably within the range of substantially 35 to 45 weight percent and the exemplary cadmium oxide preferably within the range of substantially 55 to 65 weight percent. Modification of the resistive value of the mixture can be achieved by adjusting the proportions of the oxide and frit material within the ranges indicated.
The desired proportions of the respective frit and oxide powdered materials are admixed with a liquid vehicle, compatible with the internal cathode ray tube environment, such as an organic binder which may be a frit lacquer, having exemplary 0.1 to 0.5 weight percent of solids therein, as for example, a solution of 1 percent nitrocellulose dissolved in an ester, such as amyl acetate. This frit-metal-oxide-vehicle combination, being of substantially viscous consistency, is then subjected to a rolling mixing procedure to achieve a homogeneous suspension of the solids therein; whereupon a quantity of diluent preferably having a boiling point higher than that of the lacquer solvent, such as diethyl oxalate, which is compatible with the ester of the organic binder, is admixed to provide the proper viscosity for application and afford adequate drying control. For example, for brush application a viscosity in the order of substantially 300 to 1000 centipoise is appropriate while for spray deposition a viscosity of substantially 150 centipoise is suitable.
The next component of the tripartite system, the second low resistive electrical conductive coating 41 is disposed as a narrow circumferential band in the forward region of the neck member 15 making contact with the rear boundary of the high resistive coating 39. This band is of a width much less than that of the high resistive deposition and provides a buss-bar conductive medium for effecting advantageous connection with the contacting elements 43 terminally oriented on the electron generating assembly 29 whereby undesired high resistance points of contact therebetween are avoided, thusly eliminating harmful localized points of abnormal heating during subsequent high voltage tube processing and conditioning. The band, being less than substantially 1 inch in width, is located in the neck region, whereat it affords contact and spatial association with substantially only the contact elements of the electron generating assembly. The composition of the conductive band is such as to effect a resistance in the order of substantially 500 to 2000 ohms per inch, and for example, may be comprised of a modified conductive carbonaceous material, such as graphite or Aquadag, admixed with a compatible substantially inert fine particulate material, such as ferric oxide, chromic oxide and aluminum oxide, and a suitable aqueous base silicate binder. An exemplary composition suitable for forming a conductive band exhibiting tight adherence a hard scratch-resistant and particle-free surface and the desired conductive properties is one substantially comprised of:
50 weight percent of at least one of the above-mentioned oxide ingredients
30 weight percent of water base Aquadag (30 percent solids)
20 weight percent of water base potassium silicate (35 percent solids)
Such is applied, such as by brushing, to the discrete areal region of the neck as described and shown.
The tripartite connective-resistive system is disposed by a method wherein the first and second low resistive electrical conductive coatings 33 and 41 are suitably applied by conventional means to the respective separated envelope areas as previously described and shown, whereupon they are subjected to drying. The high resistive electrical conductive coating 39 is then applied to the intervening area between the respective first 33 and second 41 coatings in a manner to make contiguous perimetric contact with both coatings, such as an edge-overlap on each. As aforementioned, the first 33 and second 41 conductive coatings utilize aqueous base vehicles, whereas the intermediately disposed high resistive coating 39 employs a chemically diverse but compatible base vehicle to prevent a deleterious edge intermixing of coatings during application.
After drying of the three coatings, a continuous bead of sealing frit 21 is applied to the panel-seal edge of the funnel, whereupon a screen-containing viewing panel is positioned. The panel-funnel assembly is then heated in a conventional manner to approximately 450° C. for a suitable period of time, such as substantially 1 hour, to vitrify the sealing frit and effect jointure between the panel and funnel members. The controlled heat of this sealing procedure additionally produces an amorphous transformation of the homogeneous mixture constituting the high resistive coating 39 and effects degasification of the related first 33 and second 41 conductive coatings comprising the tripartite system. At this stage, an electron generating assembly is inserted into the open neck member and hermetically sealed thereto, whereupon the tube structure is subsequently further processed in the conventional manner.
Thus, there is provided a resistive coating means that effects improved internal arc suppression within a cathode ray tube. The coating means is capable of being discretely disposed on the wall of the envelope in an expedient and economical manner during tube manufacturing.
While there has been shown and described what are at present considered the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

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GTE Corporation (formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation) was the largest of the "independent" US telephone companies during the days of the Bell System. It acquired the third largest independent, Continental Telephone (ConTel) in 1991.[1] They also owned Automatic Electric, a telephone equipment supplier similar in many ways to Western Electric, and Sylvania Lighting, the only non-communications-oriented company under GTE ownership. GTE provided local telephone service to a large number of areas of the U.S. through operating companies, much like how American Telephone & Telegraph provided local telephone service through its 22 Bell Operating Companies.

The company also acquired BBN Planet, one of the earliest Internet service providers, in 1997. That division became known as GTE Internetworking, and was later spun off into the independent company Genuity (a name recycled from another Internet company GTE acquired in 1997) as part of the GTE-Bell Atlantic merger that created Verizon.

GTE operated in Canada via large interests in subsidiary companies such as BC TEL and Quebec-Téléphone. When foreign ownership restrictions on telecommunications companies were introduced, GTE's ownership was grandfathered. When BC Tel merged with Telus (the name given the privatized Alberta Government Telephones (AGT)) to create BCT.Telus, GTE's Canadian subsidiaries were merged into the new parent, making it the second-largest telecommunications carrier in Canada. As such, GTE's successor, Verizon Communications, was the only foreign telecommunications company with a greater than 20% interest in a Canadian carrier, until Verizon completely divested itself of its shares in 2004.[2]

In the Caribbean, CONTEL purchased several major stakes in the newly independent countries of the British West Indies (Namely in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago).[3][4][5]

Prior to GTE's merger with Bell Atlantic, GTE also maintained an interactive television service joint-venture called GTE mainStreet (sometimes also called mainStreet USA[citation needed]) as well as an interactive entertainment and video game publishing operation, GTE Interactive Media.


History

GTE's heritage can be traced to 1918, when three Wisconsin public utility accountants (John F. O'Connell, Sigurd L. Odegard, and John A. Pratt) pooled $33,500 to purchase the Richland Center Telephone Company, serving 1,466 telephones in the dairy belt of southern Wisconsin. In 1920 the three accountants formed a corporation, Commonwealth Telephone Company, with Odegard as president, Pratt as vice-president, and O'Connell as secretary. Richland Center Telephone became part of Commonwealth Telephone, which quickly purchased telephone companies in three nearby communities. In 1922 Pratt resigned as vice-president and was replaced by Clarence R. Brown, a former Bell System employee.

By the mid-1920s Commonwealth had extended beyond Wisconsin borders and purchased the Belvidere Telephone Company in Illinois. It also diversified into other utilities by acquiring two small Wisconsin electrical companies. Expansion was stepped up in 1926, when Odegard secured an option to purchase Associated Telephone Company of Long Beach, California and proceeded to devise a plan for a holding company, to be named Associated Telephone Utilities Company. An aggressive acquisition program was quickly launched in eastern, midwestern, and western states, with the company using its own common stock to complete transactions.

During its first six years, Associated Telephone Utilities acquired 340 telephone companies, which were consolidated into 45 companies operating more than 437,000 telephones in 25 states. By the time the stock market bottomed out in October 1929, Associated Telephone Utilities was operating about 500,000 telephones with revenues approaching $17 million.

In January 1930 a new subsidiary, Associated Telephone Investment Company, was established. Designed to support its parent's acquisition program, the new company's primary business was buying company stock in order to bolster its market value. Within two years the investment company had incurred major losses, and a $1 million loan had to be negotiated. Associated Telephone Investment was dissolved but not before its parent's financial plight had become irreversible, and in 1933 Associated Telephone Utilities went into receivership.



General Telephone

The company was reorganized that same year and resurfaced in 1935 as General Telephone Corporation, operating 12 newly consolidated companies. John Winn, a 26-year veteran of the Bell System, was named president. In 1936 General Telephone created a new subsidiary, General Telephone Directory Company, to publish directories for the parent's entire service area.

Like other businesses, the telephone industry was under government restrictions during World War II, and General Telephone was called upon to increase services at military bases and war-production factories. Following the war, General Telephone reactivated an acquisitions program that had been dormant for more than a decade and purchased 118,000 telephone lines between 1946 and 1950. In 1950 General Telephone purchased its first telephone-equipment manufacturing subsidiary, Leich Electric Company, along with the related Leich Sales Corporation.

By 1951, General Telephone's assets included 15 telephone companies operating in 20 states. In 1955 Theodore Gary & Company, the second-largest independent telephone company, which had 600,000 telephone lines, was merged into General Telephone, which had grown into the largest independent outside the Bell System. The merger gave the company 2.5 million lines. Theodore Gary's assets included telephone operations in the Dominican Republic, British Columbia, and the Philippines, as well as Automatic Electric, the second-largest telephone equipment manufacturer in the U.S. It also had a subsidiary, named the General Telephone and Electric Corporation, formed in 1930 with the Transamerica Corporation and British investors to compete against ITT.[9]

In 1959 General Telephone and Sylvania Electric Products merged, and the parent's name was changed to General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (GT&E). The merger gave Sylvania - a leader in such industries as lighting, television and radio, and chemistry and metallurgy - the needed capital to expand. For General Telephone, the merger meant the added benefit of Sylvania's extensive research and development capabilities in the field of electronics. Power also orchestrated other acquisitions in the late 1950s, including Peninsular Telephone Company in Florida, with 300,000 lines, and Lenkurt Electric Company, Inc., a leading producer of microwave and data transmissions system.

In 1960 the subsidiary GT&E International Incorporated was formed to consolidate manufacturing and marketing activities of Sylvania, Automatic Electric, and Lenkurt, outside the United States. During the early 1960s the scope of GT&E's research, development, and marketing activities was broadened. In 1963 Sylvania began full-scale production of color television picture tubes, and within two years it was supplying color tubes for 18 of the 23 domestic U.S. television manufacturers. About the same time, Automatic Electric began supplying electronic switching equipment for the U.S. defense department's global communications systems, and GT&E International began producing earth-based stations for both foreign and domestic markets. GT&E's telephone subsidiaries, meanwhile, began acquiring community-antenna television systems (CATV) franchises in their operating areas.

In 1964 GT&E president Leslie H. Warner orchestrated a deal that merged Western Utilities Corporation, the nation's second-largest independent telephone company, with 635,000 telephones, into GT&E. The following year Sylvania introduced the revolutionary four-sided flashcube, enhancing its position as the world's largest flashbulb producer. Acquisitions in telephone service continued under Warner during the mid-1960s. Purchases included Quebec Telephone in Canada, Hawaiian Telephone Company, and Northern Ohio Telephone Company and added a total of 622,000 telephone lines to GT&E operations. By 1969 GT&E was serving ten million telephones.

In March 1970 GT&E's New York City headquarters was bombed by a radical antiwar group in protest of the company's participation in defense work. In December of that year the GT&E board agreed to move the company's headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut.

After initially proposing to build separate satellite systems, GT&E and its telecommunications rival, American Telephone & Telegraph, announced in 1974 joint venture plans for the construction and operation of seven earth-based stations interconnected by two satellites. That same year Sylvania acquired name and distribution rights for Philco television and stereo products. GTE International expanded its activities during the same period, acquiring television manufacturers in Canada and Israel and a telephone manufacturer in Germany.

In 1976 newly elected chairman Theodore F. Brophy reorganized the company along five global product lines: communications, lighting, consumer electronics, precision materials, and electrical equipment. GTE International was phased out during the reorganization, and GTE Products Corporation was formed to encompass both domestic and foreign manufacturing and marketing operations. At the same time, GTE Communications Products was formed to oversee operations of Automatic Electric, Lenkurt, Sylvania, and GTE Information Systems. In 1979, another reorganization soon followed under new president Theodore F. Vanderslice. GTE Products Group was eliminated as an organizational unit and GTE Electrical Products, consisting of lighting, precision materials, and electrical equipment, was formed. Vanderslice also revitalized the GT&E Telephone Operating Group in order to develop competitive strategies for anticipated regulatory changes in the telecommunications industry.

In 1979, GTE purchased Telenet to establish a presence in the growing packet switching data communications business. GTE Telenet was later included in the US Telecom joint venture.



1980s

GT&E sold its consumer electronics businesses, including the accompanying brand names of Philco and Sylvania in 1980, after watching revenues from television and radio operations decrease precipitously with the success of foreign manufacturers. Following AT&T's 1982 announcement that it would divest 22 telephone operating companies, GT&E made a number of reorganization moves.

In 1982 the company adopted the name GTE Corporation and formed GTE Mobilnet Incorporated to handle the company's entrance into the new cellular telephone business. In 1983 GTE sold its electrical equipment, brokerage information services, and cable television equipment businesses. That same year, Automatic Electric and Lenkurt were combined as GTE Network Systems.

GTE became the third-largest long-distance telephone company in 1983 through the acquisition of Southern Pacific Communications Company. At the same time, Southern Pacific Satellite Company was acquired, and the two firms were renamed GTE Sprint Communications Corporation and GTE Spacenet Corporation, respectively. Through an agreement with the Department of Justice, GTE conceded to keep Sprint Communications separate from its other telephone companies and limit other GTE telephone subsidiaries in certain markets. In December 1983 Vanderslice resigned as president and chief operating officer.


1990s

In 1990 GTE reorganized its activities around three business groups: telecommunications products and services, telephone operations, and electrical products. That same year, GTE and Contel Corporation announced merger plans that would strengthen GTE's telecommunications and telephone sectors.

Following action or review by more than 20 governmental bodies, in March 1991 the merger of GTE and Contel was approved. Over half of Contel's $6.6 billion purchase price, $3.9 billion, was assumed debt. In April 1992, James L. "Rocky" Johnson retired after 43 years at GTE, remaining on the GTE board of directors as Chairman Emeritus. Charles "Chuck" Lee was named to succeed Mr. Johnson. Mr. Lee's first order of business was reduction of that obligation. He sold GTE's North American Lighting business to a Siemens affiliate for over $1 billion, shaved off local exchange properties in Idaho, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia to generate another $1 billion, divested its interest in Sprint in 1992, and sold its GTE Spacenet satellite operations to General Electric in 1994.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, promised to encourage competition among local phone providers, long distance services, and cable television companies. Many leading telecoms prepared for the new competitive realities by aligning themselves with entertainment and information providers. GTE, on the other hand, continued to focus on its core operations, seeking to make them as efficient as possible.

Among other goals, GTE's plan sought to double revenues and slash costs by $1 billion per year by focusing on five key areas of operation: technological enhancement of wireline and wireless systems, expansion of data services, global expansion, and diversification into video services. GTE hoped to cross-sell its large base of wireline customers on wireless, data and video services, launching Tele-Go, a user-friendly service that combined cordless and cellular phone features. The company bought broadband spectrum cellular licenses in Atlanta, Seattle, Cincinnati and Denver, and formed a joint venture with SBC Communications to enhance its cellular capabilities in Texas. In 1995, the company undertook a 15-state test of video conferencing services, as well as a video dialtone (VDT) experiment that proposed to offer cable television programming to 900,000 homes by 1997. GTE also formed a video programming and interservices joint venture with Ameritech Corporation, BellSouth Corporation, SBC, and The Walt Disney Company in the fall of 1995.

Foreign efforts included affiliations with phone companies in Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Japan, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and China. The early 1990s reorganization included a 37.5 percent workforce reduction, from 177,500 in 1991 to 111,000 by 1994. Lee's fivefold strategy had begun to bear fruit by the mid-1990s. While the communication conglomerate's sales remained rather flat, at about $19.8 billion, from 1992 through 1994, its net income increased by 43.7 percent, from $1.74 billion to a record $2.5 billion, during the same period.



Merger with Bell Atlantic

Bell Atlantic merged with GTE on June 30, 2000, and named the new entity Verizon Communications. The GTE operating companies retained by Verizon are now collectively known as Verizon West division of Verizon (including east coast service territories). The remaining smaller operating companies were sold off or transferred into the remaining ones. Additional properties were sold off within a few years after the merger. On July 1, 2010, Verzion sold many former GTE properties to Frontier Communications.

References:

"Bell Atlantic and GTE Pick Post-Merger Name". New York Times. April 4, 2000. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
"News Releases - Verizon News".

"GTE Corporation". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 2, 2014.

"Investor Relations - Verizon".

"Bell Atlantic and GTE Chairmen Praise FCC Merger Approval". Verizon. Retrieved January 10, 2014.

"Sale of 73.5 million TELUS shares by Verizon completed". TELUS News Release. December 14, 2004.

Felipe M Noguera. "Telecommunications in The Caribbean".

Cable & Wireless Barbados: Early History

Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago - Corporate History

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