Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, Electronics, Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services to Langhorne Area

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Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics,
Electronics,
Bringing Additional Advanced Technology,
Services
to Langhorne Area

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

August 26, 1999

Media
contact:

Ells Edwards,
302-576-5340
Sharon Shaffer,
215-963-6200

LANGHORNE, Pa. --Bell Atlantic is installing new fiber-optic cable and
associated electronic equipment in the Langhorne area as part of a
$250,000 project to upgrade the local telephone network and provide
additional broadband capability to its customers.

The new underground cable will run along Neshaminy Boulevard,
Bellevue Road and Hulmeville Road. The project is expected to be
completed in December, 1999. This new technology will allow Bell
Atlantic to expand its ability to make available advanced broadband
facilities to nearby public schools and a nursing home and meets the
company's commitments to the Public Utility Commission. The fiber
optic cable also 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 secure, high-speed, always-on
    Internet access services that enables consumers 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 43
million telephone access lines and nearly 10 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.

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