COMPANY TOWN

Multimedia: GTE Corp. said Thursday that it would join three regional Bell companies in an alliance with Walt Disney Co. aimed at developing TV programming to be delivered over phone lines. Before it committed to Disney, the company weighed joining another Baby Bells group allied with Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency in a similar effort to offer consumers an alternative to cable programming. But Rick Wilson, GTE’s vice president for video services, said the firm believes Disney is the preferable partner because it is directly involved in the production and marketing of entertainment. “We believe somebody that actually does in-depth development of content would be better,” Wilson said. With GTE’s involvement, the reach of the consortium--whose other members are Ameritech Corp., BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc.--expands from 50 million to 68 million access lines across 33 states. The five partners plan to spend $500 million over five years to develop, acquire and market entertainment, educational and interactive programs.