Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, New Equipment, Bringing More Advanced Technology to Calvert County

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Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, New
Equipment, Bringing More Advanced
Technology to Calvert County

Company Invests Over $700,000 to Expand,
Upgrade Local Telecommunications Network

February 2, 2000

Media
contact:

Sandra Arnette,
410-393-7109

SOLOMONS, Md. - Bell Atlantic recently has installed 5,000 feet of
fiber-optic cable and digital electronic equipment totaling more than
$700,000 in Calvert County.

The project is part of Bell Atlantic's ongoing construction and
modernization program to upgrade its Maryland telecommunications
network and provide additional broadband capability to its customers.

"Bell Atlantic is taking great strides to ensure that our Southern
Maryland customers get the high-quality services they demand,"
said Sherry F. Bellamy, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic-Maryland.
"We invest over $1 million a day in our telecommunications
network to provide Maryland consumers and businesses with high-speed
access to the Internet, work-at-home capabilities and a host of other
innovative advanced services."

In Solomons, Bell Atlantic is building an addition to its local wire center
and upgrading switching equipment that serves the area. This project
should be completed in June. The company also has added digital
electronic equipment, linked by fiber-optic cable, to serve customers in the
Appeal and Cove Point areas.

This state-of-the-art technology will enable Bell Atlantic to offer improved
voice and high-speed data services to consumers in Solomons. The fiber
system also will improve reliability and survivability in the company's
network.

Bell Atlantic completed two other major projects in Calvert County in
1999. In Prince Frederick, along Routes 2 & 4 (Solomons Island Road),
the company installed 6,400 feet of fiber-optic cable to provide high-speed
services to the new Calvert Village Shopping Center and Chapline
Development, which consists of a new housing development, grocery
store, strip mall and restaurants.

The second project meets telecommunications needs in the rapidly
growing business and residential area of Dunkirk. Bell Atlantic installed
31,100 feet of fiber-optic cable to serve the Dunkirk District Village
Shopping Area and Dunkirk Village.

Bellamy said Bell Atlantic is aggressively deploying advanced technology
throughout its Maryland network:

  • The company spent $598 million to modernize, expand and upgrade its
    vast telecommunications network serving the state - an investment of
    $11.5 million a week.

  • Bell Atlantic added 73,000 miles of fiber-optic cable in Maryland in
    1999, bringing the total in its Maryland network to more than 480,000
    miles.

  • The percentage of digital call-routing switches has grown from 95
    percent in 1995 to 99.2 percent today.

  • Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL (digital subscriber line) service is now
    available in parts of Maryland. Infospeed DSL is a digital high-speed,
    always-on service that enables consumers to connect to the Internet at
    speeds up to 126 times faster than today's fastest analog modems.

"Bell Atlantic is building and enhancing a top-flight public
telecommunications network in Maryland that is a vital part of the state's
economic infrastructure," Bellamy said. "In addition, our
network engineering operation in downtown Baltimore is playing a
significant role in designing Bell Atlantic's network in Maryland and
throughout our entire service area, from Maine to Virginia."

In addition to deploying the latest technology, Bell Atlantic has spent tens
of millions of dollars to open Maryland's local telephone market to
competition.

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition,"
Bellamy said. "Competition for local service is here today in
Maryland, and it's growing. Any company that wants to compete for
Marylanders' local phone service can do so."

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With nearly 44 million telephone access lines and 12 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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