Bell Atlantic to Deploy Fiber Optics, Bringing Advanced Technology, Services to Boalsburg, Millheim Areas

Bell Atlantic to Deploy Fiber Optics, Bringing Advanced
Technology, Services to Boalsburg, Millheim Areas

Company Investing $690,000 to Expand and Upgrade
Local Telephone Network

April 12, 1999

BOALSBURG, Pa. -- Bell Atlantic will install 21 miles of fiber-optic
cable in the Boalsburg and Mill heim areas over the coming months as part
of a $690,000 project to upgrade the local telephone network and provide
advanced telecommunications services to its customers.

The new cable containing 96 fibers will connect the Bell Atlantic
telephone offices in Boalsburg and Millheim. Engineering of the route has
been completed and construction is scheduled to begin in the next few
weeks.

This new technology will allow Bell Atlantic to expand its ability to offer
advanced high-speed data services and provides additional reliability and
survivability in the Bell Atlantic network. Fiber-optic systems use hair-
thin glass fibers and digital technology to deliver high quality telephone
service along with high-capacity/high-speed voice and data transmission
services.

"This project is the latest evidence that Bell Atlantic is meeting our
commitment to deliver a state-of-the-art telecommunications network
throughout Pennsylvania," said Daniel J. Whelan, president of Bell
Atlantic - Pennsylvania. "We are accelerating our construction schedules
to provide rural and urban customers with high-speed access to the
Internet, work-at-home capabilities, as well as a host of other innovative
advanced services."

Whelan said Bell Atlantic has made major strides in deploying advanced
technology in its network:

• Annual spending on the Pennsylvania network nearly doubled
  from $539 million in 1995 to more than $961 million in 1998.

• Miles of fiber-optic cable in the commonwealth increased by 66
  percent from 474,450 in 1995 to 786,106 at the end of 1998.

• Percentage of digital call-routing switches has grown from 90.3
  percent in 1995 to 96 percent at the end of 1998.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL was launched in Pennsylvania last
  fall. Infospeed DSL is a high-speed, always-on Internet access
  services which enables consumers to connect to cyberspace at
  speeds up to 100 times faster than today's fastest analog modems.

In addition, Bell Atlantic has spent tens of millions of dollars to open
Pennsylvania's local telephone market to competition.

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition," Whelan said.
"We can't force the long distance giants or anyone else to compete here,
but anyone who genuinely wants to enter our markets can do so.

"Bell Atlantic is keeping its promises to Pennsylvania. We are building
and enhancing a public telecommunications network in Pennsylvania that
is the finest in the world and is a vital part of the commonwealth's
economic infrastructure."

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 42 million telephone access lines and eight
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 23 countries.