Bell Atlantic Launches ATM Cell Relay Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 1996

BELL ATLANTIC LAUNCHES ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
(ATM) CELL RELAY SERVICE

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is Bell Atlantic's first ATM
customer

PHILADELPHIA - Businesses throughout the Bell Atlantic
region soon
will be able to consolidate all voice, video and data traffic onto a
single network access line, eliminating the need for separate lines to
handle different types of traffic. As part of Bell Atlantic®
All@once(sm) Solutions, the company announced
today that it will offer
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell relay service, which includes
the design, deployment and management of the high-bandwidth networks,
all for a flat monthly fee. The service will be rolled out initially
in metropolitan Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in the third
quarter and in additional metropolitan areas throughout the
mid-Atlantic region by the end of the year.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the first Bell Atlantic customer
to benefit from ATM technology. Bell Atlantic has already designed
and deployed an ATM backbone network to support the Commonwealth's
agencies and departments.

"Bell Atlantic is pleased to introduce our ATM cell relay service at
a
time that is right for our customers," said Joe Cascio, vice
president
of marketing for Bell Atlantic Large Business Services. "We rolled
out
frame relay and SMDS as our customers asked for it, and today's more
sophisticated applications are driving the need for ATM. Our new ATM
cell relay service will allow customers to choose a package that fits
perfectly with their application requirements and meets their business
objectives."

International Data Corp., a market research and consulting firm,
estimates that the ATM services market in the United States will grow
by 125 percent in 1996 and by 365 percent from 1995 to 1997.

Bell Atlantic's cell relay offering features flexible packaging that
can be designed to fit customers' individual network needs. For
example, Bell Atlantic offers different levels of ATM access (low-cost
direct fiber or highly reliable SONET lines), speed (10 to 155 Mbps)
and Quality of Service Levels (constant or variable bit rates). In
addition, different locations on the network can each have a unique
configuration, depending on the customer's network needs.

Another benefit of Bell Atlantic's cell relay offering is its
flat-rate pricing which allows customers to better predict and manage
network costs. Service packages are structured to provide unlimited
amounts of traffic for a single monthly fee, and no mileage or usage
charges apply.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's agencies and departments required a
high-speed, high-bandwidth network to handle the emerging applications
crucial to their daily business. It also wanted to stimulate economic
development and attract corporations by offering advanced public
network infrastructure. In response to these needs, Bell Atlantic
deployed the Commonwealth's ATM backbone network in November 1995,
installed ATM switches throughout the state, and is presently working
on providing the Commonwealth with frame relay-to-ATM interworking.

"One of our goals is to attract businesses to our state. A great
way
to attract corporate attention is to be a leader in telecommunications
technology and infrastructure," said Larry Olson, Deputy Secretary
for
Information Technology for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"Advanced telecommunications features such as ATM are needed
throughout Pennsylvania - not just in our urban centers, but also in
our suburban and rural areas to make statewide educational projects a
reality. Bell Atlantic's ATM service will enable us to offer the
finest educational and corporate training programs using a statewide
distance learning network, take advantage of emerging imaging
technology and implement many other applications that make
Pennsylvania a great home for businesses and their families ."

Cascade Communications and DSC Communications will be the suppliers of
ATM switching equipment supporting Bell Atlantic's cell relay
offering. Bell Atlantic will be the first local exchange carrier to
deploy the Cascade 500 ATM switch.

ATM cell relay is the latest addition to Bell Atlantic's Fast Packet
family of services(FNS), which includes frame relay, SMDS, Fiber
Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and FDDI Network Services (FNS) -
Part of Bell Atlantic's ATM cell relay service strategy is to
integrate customers' existing networks easily into ATM without
stranding previous equipment investments. Bell Atlantic is currently
upgrading its frame relay and SMDS infrastructure so customers soon
will be able to interwork ATM cell relay service with their current
frame relay or SMDS service, giving them the benefits of ATM's
high-speed, transparent any-to-any connectivity without replacing the
current network.

"Frame relay- and SMDS-to-ATM interworking is a key part of Bell
Atlantic's plans for ATM," said Bob Deaven, ATM product manager for
Bell Atlantic Large Business Services. 'We also plan to include T- I
user network interface and circuit emulation, and switched virtual
circuits as part of our ATM service. We will bring a variety of ATM
solutions to meet customer needs in a way that's cost-effective and
interoperable."

Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE: BEL) is at the forefront of the new
communications, entertainment and information industry. In the
mid-Atlantic region, the company is the premier provider of local
telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the
largest investors in the high-growth wireless communication
marketplace. Bell Atlantic also owns a substantial interest in
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing
high-growth national and international business opportunities in all
phases of the industry.

The company's Large Business Services organization offers customers
Bell Atlantic All@once Solutions: integrated voice, data and video
applications and the professional consulting and support services that
add up to a precise solution that fits and evolves to meet customers'
specific communications needs.

####

Media contacts:

Bell Atlantic, Shannon Fioravanti, 703-974-5455
shannon.l.fioravanti@bell-atl.com

Hill and Knowlton Inc., Aaron Graham/Michele Melillo, 212-885-0300
agraham@nyc.hillknowlton.com