Bell Atlantic Doubles Infospeed DSL Deployment, Company to Make 17 Million Lines DSL- Capable This Year

Bell Atlantic Doubles Infospeed DSL
Deployment,
Company to Make 17 Million Lines DSL-
Capable This Year

Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, Harrisburg, Norfolk,
Springfield, Syracuse, Wilmington
Next Markets to Come Online

July 28, 1999

NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic today put deployment of its
always-on, high-speed Internet service on a fast track by announcing the
company will double its deployment of Bell Atlantic Infospeed^sm DSL this year, with 17 million qualified residential and
business lines.

"We're intensifying our commitment to making Infospeed DSL a
mass market service and responding to the thousands of customers who've
told us they want DSL as fast as we can get it to them," said Amy
McIntosh, president of Bell Atlantic Consumer Data Services.

Under the accelerated deployment plan, Bell Atlantic will equip more than
700 central offices with DSL (digital subscriber line) technology by the
end of 1999, enabling millions of customers in all of the company's 13
states and the District of Columbia to take advantage of the digital, high-
quality Internet connection. By the end of first quarter 2000, the company
plans to equip 1,000 central offices serving 21 million qualified lines.

In addition to the accelerated deployment, Bell Atlantic's new Quick Start
do-it-yourself installation, introduced earlier this month, will make it
easier and faster for customers to get online with an always-on connection.

"We've never had a product with so much pent-up demand. With
our customers clamoring for speed, we're doubling the pace of our
deployment to bring Infospeed DSL to many new markets and
communities this year," McIntosh said.

Deployment Saturates Top Markets This Year
By the end of 1999, Bell Atlantic will deploy Infospeed DSL in central
offices serving the majority of the company's residential and business lines
in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.
metropolitan areas as well as in Northern New Jersey. Infospeed DSL
currently is available in parts of these six markets.

In the third quarter, Bell Atlantic will begin its Infospeed DSL deployment
in Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y.; Baltimore; Greenwich, Conn.;
Harrisburg, Pa.; Norfolk, Va.; Springfield, Mass., and Wilmington, Del.
Later this year and early next year, the company will begin to deploy
Infospeed DSL in parts of New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island,
Vermont and West Virginia.

Infospeed DSL is Bell Atlantic's brand name for DSL, or Digital
Subscriber Line technology, which provides Internet access to consumers
at speeds up to 126 times faster than a 56 kilobits per second (Kbps)
modem, depending on the Infospeed package selected. By taking
advantage of unused capacity on existing telephone lines, the technology
allows customers to use a single phone line to send faxes or make phone
calls while they're surfing the Internet.

And with Infospeed DSL, there's no dialing. No busy signals. You're
there, with one click of the mouse. The digital, high-speed service
provides an always-on link to the Internet.

"Infospeed DSL provides significant advantages over cable modems
because there is a more secure, dedicated connection to our telephone
central offices," McIntosh said. "There's no sharing of
bandwidth or information with your neighbors. Our DSL service also lets
you choose your Internet service provider and even do the installation
yourself, two options that you won't find today if you get a cable
modem."

New Quick Start Installation Speeds Service
The new Quick Start do-it-yourself installation, now available to
customers in New York City, will be introduced in other Bell Atlantic
markets later this year.

When customers place an order, Bell Atlantic will equip their line with
Infospeed DSL as well as ship them a DSL modem and a Quick Start
Guide with instructions on how to complete the easy and fast installation
themselves. There's no need to stay home for a visit from Bell Atlantic.
Customers receive everything they need to connect to the Internet using
Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL service.

Infospeed Packages Offer Tremendous Value
At $49.95 a month, Bell Atlantic's entry-level Personal Infospeed package
for consumers features speeds up to 640 kilobits per second (Kbps) with
unlimited use. Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Personal Plus, the company's
entry-level package for businesses, is priced at $64.95, with speeds up to
640 Kbps for unlimited use.

Consumers and business customers who want even faster connections
have two other options:

• Bell Atlantic Professional Infospeed for consumers, at $99.95 a
  month, or Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Professional Plus for businesses, at
  $114.95, feature speeds up to 1.6 megabits per second (Mbps).

• Bell Atlantic Power Infospeed for consumers, at $189.95, or Bell Atlantic
  Infospeed DSL Power Plus, at $204.95 a month, offer speeds up to 7.1
  Mbps.

All Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL packages for consumers include
BellAtlantic.net Internet access and a link to a special version of
the Snap portal service designed for Bell Atlantic's high-speed users.

All Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Plus packages offer business customers
up to six mailboxes, sized to meet business needs at 20 megabytes each,
and five megabytes of Web page space.

The initial cost includes a $99 one-time network connection fee and -- for
BellAtlantic.net subscribers who
make a one-year commitment -- a DSL modem for $99.

In addition, technical support is available to all Infospeed DSL customers,
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Finally, the service comes with a
customer-care, money-back guarantee for all charges if a customer decides
not to continue service within 30 days of installation.

ISPs to Offer Infospeed DSL packages
Volume discounts are available to Internet service providers (ISPs) who
want to package Infospeed DSL with their Internet service. As a result of
current agreements with America Online, Prodigy, Flashcom and more
than 40 other ISPS, Bell Atlantic expects ISPs to sign up nearly three
million Infospeed DSL customers.

Customers can make a reservation for Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL
services today via the Bell Atlantic Web site at
www.bellatlantic.com/infospeed
or by calling 1-877-525-2DSL. They also can preview Bell
Atlantic's high-speed portal by visiting
www.bellatlantic.net/infospeed.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of
the new communications and information industry. With more than 43
million telephone access lines and nearly ten 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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¹Bell Atlantic.net customers enjoy Internet connections that are among the most reliable in the country, according
to a leading industry report card.