Bell Atlantic, NYNEX Sponsor 16 Charities at Presidents' Summit For America's Future

April 28, 1997

CONTACT: Shannon Fioravanti of Bell Atlantic, 703-974-5455, or e-mail, shannon.l.fioravanti@bell-atl.com,
or Maureen Flanagan of NYNEX, 212-395-0500, or maureen_flanagan@smtp.

Bell Atlantic, NYNEX Sponsor 16 Charities at Presidents'
Summit For America's Future

All Harness Latest Technologies to Aid Youth, Families

PHILADELPHIA and NEW YORK, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX (NYSE: NYN) have jointly
earmarked over $60,000 to 16 non-profit groups attending the Presidents' Summit for
America's Future in Philadelphia, and to provide hands-on Internet training to delegates.

The summit, slated for April 27-29, will kick off a national campaign to renew
the spirit of volunteerism, with a new effort targeting America's youth. Summit organizers
expect participation from over 1,700 community and state delegates from throughout
the country.

"These 16 organizations are harnessing the latest technology to enrich
lives and make a difference in the communities they serve," said Raymond W.
Smith, chairman and CEO, Bell Atlantic. "These volunteers bring real front-line
experience to the summit and share their resources with other volunteers nationwide.
We're glad we can help these groups get there."

Bell Atlantic and NYNEX will fund the organizations through HandsNet, a national
non-profit training center which helps volunteer organizations make full use of the
Internet. HandsNet, based in California, now links 5,000 human service organizations
throughout the United States.

"Our investment in these 16 programs is fostering a new approach to volunteerism.
These groups, combined with the advanced technologies of NYNEX and Bell Atlantic,
will reach potentially tens of thousands of volunteers. I'm happy we can be a part
of this great effort," said NYNEX Chairman Ivan Seidenberg.

"New communications technologies have the power to multiply the effectiveness
of the non-profit sector," said Sam Karp, HandsNet executive officer. "In
ten years of work with the human services community, we have seen how access to information
and communications can expand the reach and improve the programs of these organizations."

The charities Bell Atlantic and NYNEX will sponsor are based from Massachusetts
to California:

Libertynet, Philadelphia -- This group provides Internet access for 1,000
area non-profit organizations, including web-site hosting for 400 of these.

Project DIANE, Nashville, Tenn. -- DIANE (Diversified Information and Assistance
Network) uses PC-based two-way video-teleconferencing to connect 50 non-profit organizations
in middle Tennessee.

Plugged In and The Community Technology Centers Network (CTCnet), Inc., --
Plugged In offers a storefront computer and communications center in low-income and
ethnically diverse East Palo Alto, Calif. Plugged In is one of more than 150 neighborhood
technology centers belonging to CTCnet, based in Newton, Mass.

SeniorNet, San Francisco, Calif. -- This national network of senior centers
focuses on improving seniors citizens' lives through computers and the use of high
technology.

US Tech Corps, Sudbury, Mass. -- This national service organization, links
technical volunteers with local projects, such as NetDay, which is a nationwide program
to wire school classrooms for Internet connections.

DO-IT, Seattle, Wash. -- DO-IT provides on-line mentoring for disabled high
school youth interested in attending college to pursue careers in math, science and
technology.

Making Healthy MUSIC, Newark, N.J. -- This low-income African-American community
uses technology to generate its own community information resources on health, violence
prevention and education, with a focus on youth.

National Urban League, New York -- This group uses technology to link 114
local Urban League affiliates with information on jobs.

PUENTE Learning Centers, Los Angeles -- This group uses computer and digital
interactive distance learning extensively in tutoring and teaching English as a second
language.

Faces of Adoption, Philadelphia -- This organization provides a powerful database
that links "waiting" children, often older or disabled, with adoptive parents
nationwide; offers links to other adoption resources on line.

Impact Online, Vienna, Va. -- This is an on-line and fully interactive service
that links volunteers with non-profit agencies throughout the United States.

LEAP (Leadership, Education, Athletics in Partnership), New Haven, Conn. --
This group provides storefront computer learning centers to mentor youth in low-income,
distressed communities.

KidsCampaigns -- An online information and action center for people of all
ages who are working to improve the status of children in their communities.

SERVnet -- An extensive web site devoted to service and volunteering that
matches volunteers through the country with local opportunities to serve.

California Telementoring Project -- A state-based web site for recruiting
mentors and linking them with community organizations that offer youth programs.
The project also promotes information sharing.

Bell Atlantic and NYNEX announced earlier this week a $1.6 million donation
to the summit in cash, products and services, some of which will subsidize training
for summit volunteers so that they may use the power of the Internet to increase
their effectiveness. As the primary provider of telecommunications services for the
summit, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX are transforming the Pennsylvania Convention Center
into a major telecommunications hub, through a massive deployment of high-speed data
pipelines and state-of-the-art networking capabilities.

Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE: BEL) is at the forefront of the new communications,
entertainment and information industry. In the mid-Atlantic region, the company's
telephone company subsidiaries are the premier providers 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.

NYNEX (NYSE: NYN) is a global communications and media corporation that provides
a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high- growth markets
around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The corporation is a leader
in telecommunications, wireless communications, directory publishing and video entertainment
and information services. NYNEX is also managing sponsor of FLAG -- Fiberoptic Link
Around the Globe -- the worlds longest undersea fiber optic communications cable.

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