Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Opens New, Larger Operations Center In University Research Park

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Opens New, Larger Operations Center In University Research Park

Facility needed to meet growing demand for wireless voice and data services including new DigitalChoice

May 29, 1997

CHARLOTTE, NC -- To address the ever increasing demand for
wireless services in the Carolinas, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile
officially opened its new, $5 million, 32,404-square-foot
operations center and switching facility today at the University
Research Park near UNC-Charlotte.

The site replaces the Sweden Road operations and switching
center which was outgrown due to continued strong market demand.

Constructed with space to expand service to four times its
current load, the new operations center will accommodate growth
rates projected as high as 50 percent a year, according to Mike
Irizarry, executive director of network operations for the
company's Southeast Region.

"We project that explosive growth is likely to continue over
the next few years," Irizarry said. "This facility will permit
us to address that increased usage and assure our customers that
their calls will go through the first time, every time."

Located at 8921 Research Drive, the new operations center
will initially employ about 40 people, with the capacity for as
many as 100. Approximately 14,000 square feet are dedicated to
office space with the remainder left for the switching center and
back-up power.

A "switch" is the nerve center of a telephone communications
system. When a customer places a call, it is transmitted to a
cell site, then routed to the switching center which relays its
to its destination -- either conventional landline or another
cell site if the receiver is another wireless user.

In addition to providing increased capacity to serve more
cellular customers, the new center will also facilitate new
communications services such as DigitalChoice , the wireless
industry's most sophisticated digital cellular telephone service.
Charlotte was one of the first three metro regions in the country
where Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile began offering this newest
wireless technology.

As further assurance of uninterrupted service, the new
facility has been designed to be near disaster-proof, thanks
largely to the University Research Park's highly protected power
infrastructure, according to Irizarry.

"Feeder lines from two electrical substations that supply
the park's tenants are completely encased in concrete," Irizarry
said. "It is capable of standing up to disasters such as
Hurricane Hugo and worse. This is important because we know more
than ever that our customer values reliability and security in
his or her cellular phone."

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Editor's note:

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is the largest wireless
service provider on the East coast and the second largest in the
United States. The company owns and operates the most extensive
network in the east, covering 111,000 square miles, and the largest
chain of wireless retail outlets offering a full range of wireless
personal communications services, including voice, data and paging.
Based in Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has 4.6 million
customers and 6,500 employees in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic,
Southeast, and through a separate subsidiary, in the Southwest. The
company was formed in July, 1995, by combining the cellular operations
of Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile. For more information, visit our home
page at www.banm.com.