Bell Atlantic to Deploy Fiber Optics, Electronics, Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services to Beaver County

Bell Atlantic to Deploy Fiber Optics, Electronics, Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services to Beaver County

Company Investing $250,000 to Expand, Upgrade Local Telephone Network

June 23, 2000

ROCHESTER, Pa. -- Bell Atlantic is installing new fiber-optic cable and associated electronic equipment in the Beaver County community of Rochester as part of a $250,000 project to modernize the local telephone network and provide additional broadband capability to its customers.

Work on the project began earlier this month and is expected to be completed by October. This new technology will allow Bell Atlantic to provide additional capacity, reliability and survivability in its 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:

• Investment in the Pennsylvania network totaled nearly $2 billion in 1998 and 1999.

• Miles of fiber-optic cable in the commonwealth increased by 92 percent from 474,450 in 1995 to more than 911,000 in 1999.

• Percentage of digital call-routing switches will be 100 percent by the end of the year 2000, having grown from 90.3 percent in 1995 to 98.5 percent in 1999.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeed^sm DSL was launched in Pennsylvania in October 1998. Infospeed DSL is a high-speed connection to the Internet that enables users to connect to cyberspace at speeds up to 100 times faster than today's fastest analog modems.

"Bell Atlantic is keeping its promises to Pennsylvania," Whelan said. "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."

In addition to deploying the latest technology, 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 at the forefront of the new communications and information industry. With more than 44 million telephone access lines and more than 20 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.