Bell Atlantic Builds on Strength in Business Data Market; Announces Organizational Changes

Bell Atlantic Builds on Strength in Business Data Market; Announces Organizational Changes

Farina named president and chief executive officer of
Bell Atlantic Data Solutions Group

March 24, 1998

Group to best organize the corporation's robust data services
capabilities and accelerate its drive into the rapidly growing
business data market.

Bell Atlantic today named Joseph C. Farina to head the newly formed
company. The new unit draws together personnel, skills and resources
from several Bell Atlantic companies that serve the data market today.
Data Solutions will provide complete, end-to-end advanced data
solutions for customers on a national and worldwide basis. The new
company will use both Bell Atlantic facilities and third party
capabilities afforded by alliances and partnerships to be announced in
the coming months.

"Bell Atlantic has long been an industry leader in data
communications," said Ivan Seidenberg, vice chairman, president and
chief operating officer, Bell Atlantic Corporation. "We're determined
to build on that leadership across the country and around the globe."

The demand for Bell Atlantic's large business data services is growing
more than 25 percent a year on a current base of nearly $2 billion in
annual revenues, which includes more than $200 million annually from
Bell Atlantic's network integration unit.

Bell Atlantic's current data revenue is based on a strong portfolio of
data transmission and network integration services, including 2300
SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) rings, the capabilities of Bell
Atlantic Network Integration and services such as frame relay, SMDS
(switched multi-megabit data service) and ATM (asynchronous transfer
mode).

Bell Atlantic offers, as well, a complete suite of Internet services,
including high-speed Internet access and Web hosting. The company
counts more than 1,000 businesses among its customers for these
Internet services. Bell Atlantic also is developing Intranet/Extranet
services that entail the movement of LAN/WAN (local area network/wide
area network), enterprise-wide corporate network applications and
capabilities to the data communications Internet Protocol.

"Bell Atlantic will continue to make significant investments in
capabilities to serve the demand from all our customers, large and
small," said Seidenberg. "But what about the opportunities that will
open once Bell Atlantic can address the data market unfettered by long
distance restrictions? As significant as the current opportunity is,
it is only a small portion of the total data market once long distance
and Internet backbone revenues are added. This is where Farina and
Data Solutions come in."

Mr. Farina, age 48, is a Bell Atlantic executive with extensive
background in international and domestic operations for both wire-free
and wire-line networks, including past responsibility for delivering
complex data services in New York City. Farina is charged with
executing Bell Atlantic's data strategy in the large business and
enterprise marketplace.

The national data market is expected to grow to more than $250 billion
across the nation in the next five years. Bell Atlantic is
well positioned to participate in this growth, serving as it does the
headquarters of more than one-third of the Fortune 500 companies. The
company is prepared to make significant capital investments in a
regional high speed network once the company is granted the needed
regulatory approvals. Bell Atlantic has applied to provide long
distance services in New York, and it has a pending application to
offer advanced telecommunications services across the Mid-Atlantic and
Northeast region under section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

When regulatory approval is granted Bell Atlantic Data Solutions
intends to become a one-stop shop for business customer data needs on
a regional, national and global basis using a combination of Bell
Atlantic and third-party capabilities. The design for a Bell Atlantic
regional long distance, integrated voice and data network is complete
and vendor selection will be finalized in the coming weeks. The new
ATM- and SONET-based network will be ready for service by late 1998.
When available, the Bell Atlantic network also will be used to provide
Internet-related services to the small business and consumer markets.

"With this reorganization, Bell Atlantic will be better positioned to
meet our business customers' requirements for advanced data services,"
said Farina. "Bell Atlantic will build on this capability to become a
one-stop service provider for the national and global data
connectivity requirements of our customers.

Bell Atlantic - formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX -
is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With 40.5 million telephone access lines and six million
wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier
providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders
in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's
largest investors in high-growth global communications markets, with
operations and investments in 21 countries.