GTE Corp. agreed Tuesday to buy Internet-service provider BBN Corp. for $616 million in cash, or $29 a share, as part of its aggressive push to expand beyond the local phone business.
GTE also lined up Cisco Systems Inc. to help manage its network and could buy more than $1 billion of Cisco products over five years. The moves, along with Monday’s $485 million purchase of part of Qwest Communications Corp.’s nationwide fiber-optic network, will cause 1997 per-share earnings growth to be “flat to slightly positive,” GTE said.
GTE, the biggest U.S. local phone company, wants to offer a wider range of telecommunications services to compete with nationwide carriers, including AT&T Corp. and MCI Communications Corp.
Internet pioneer BBN and Qwest’s network will help GTE reach consumers and businesses across the U.S., analysts said.
