Rural phone companies change hands

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A dozen local phone companies across Alaska have been transfered to new operators.

The Alaska Telephone Exchange Acquisition Corp., a consortium of small phone companies, took over the exchanges Friday from Verizon Communications, a national telecom company.

Verizon, formed by the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic, announced last year it planned to sell its local exchanges in Alaska.

The purchasing group already provided telecom services to 104 Alaska communities. They then divided the 12 Alaska phone exchanges being sold among themselves.

TelAlaska Inc. took over the local phone service for Seward, Moose Pass and Nome, and United-KUC is operating the phone exchanges in Bethel, McGrath and Unalakleet.

Arctic Slope Telephone got the Barrow phone exchange, while Alaska Power & Telephone got the Southeast exchanges in Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, Klukwan and Metlakatla.