After the great telecom merger of 2005/2006, to combat the voice over ip menace brought forth by the cable companies, one company made up of parts from Southwestern Bell, Bell South, and AT&T emerged controlling 85% of all telephone lines in the USA. This leaves only 2 telephone companies in america, Verizon, and NOT Verizon. The name was chosen for simplicity sake, as now everybody knows what company your talking about.