Global Crossing to Explore Local Telephone Options

Global Crossing Ltd. on Monday said it hired Merrill Lynch & Co. and Chase Securities Inc. to examine options for its local telephone operations, acquired when it bought Frontier Corp. last fall. Half of the unit’s 1.08 million phone lines are in the Rochester, N.Y., area, and the remainder are spread across 13 states. Global Crossing said it could sell the properties and invest in higher growth opportunities, such as network expansion, sales and new products. Hamilton, Bermuda-based Global Crossing has grown from 148 employees to more than 12,000 in the last year, as it completed building or buying undersea and above-ground communications cables.

Separately, the company named IBM Corp.’s Gary Cohen chief operating officer, replacing David Lee, a company founder. Cohen, a 22-year veteran of Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM, led the computer maker’s telecommunications business. Global Crossing rose $1.19 to $36 in extended-hours trading, after gaining $3.31 to $34.81 during the regular session on Nasdaq.