Bell Atlantic Deploys New Digital Switch,Bringing Additional Advanced Technology,Services To Pittsburgh Area

Bell Atlantic Deploys New Digital Switch,
Bringing Additional Advanced Technology,
Services
To Pittsburgh Area

Company Invests $6.4 Million to Expand, Upgrade Local
Telephone Network

November 22, 1999

PITTSBURGH -- Bell Atlantic has installed a new digital switch, a state-
of-the-art computer that routes calls to their destinations, in its East
Liberty telephone office in Pittsburgh as part of an $6.4 million project to
upgrade the local telephone network and provide advanced
telecommunications services to its customers.

The new digital switch replaces an analog switch, furthering Bell
Atlantic's commitment to have 100 percent digital call switching in
Pennsylvania by the end of the year 2000. The change from the old to the
new switch was made in October, resulting in faster, more reliable phone
service for customers in the Pittsburgh area.

"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 will be 100 percent by
  the end of the year 2000, having grown from 90.3 percent in 1995
  to 96 percent at the end of 1998.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeed^sm DSL was launched in Pennsylvania in
  October, 1998. 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 more than 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.