John C. Appel has been named regional...

John C. Appel has been named regional vice president and general manager of GTE California, a Thousand Oaks-based unit of GTE Corp. that provides telephone service to about 3 million customers in the state.

Appel, 43, fills a vacancy created in April when Mike Crawford was named area vice president and general manager of GTE Telephone Operations’ seven-state western region, the company said.

Appel previously was assistant vice president for business service at GTE Telephone Operations in Irving, Texas. In his new job, he will manage the daily operations of GTE California.