Bell Atlantic Teams with Snap to Create New, High-Speed Portal Designed for Internet Access Powered by ADSL

Bell Atlantic Teams with Snap to Create New, High-Speed Portal
Designed for Internet Access Powered by ADSL

October 5, 1998

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Finding information on the World Wide Web now
will be easier than ever because of a new agreement between Bell Atlantic
Internet Solutions and Snap, the free Internet portal service jointly owned
and operated by NBC and CNET(Nasdaq: CNWK).

The two organizations are teaming to create a special version of the popular
Snap Internet portal and search engine for customers of Bell Atlantic.net^sm
who also subscribe to Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL services. Infospeed
DSL services are powered by Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
technology.

Personal, easy and fast are all attributes of this new Snap service.
Customers of Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL and Bell Atlantic.net automatically
will be greeted by the new portal when they open their Internet browser.
The site can be personalized in countless ways, such as entering in a zip
code to receive customized local news and weather updates or entering in
a stock portfolio to get updated performance information.

Unlike regular dial-up Internet services on the market, Infospeed DSL service
is "always on," meaning no more busy signals or lengthy log-on processes.
Infospeed DSL is offered at three speeds that range from 11 to 126 times
faster than a 56 kilobits per second modem (Note to Editors: See Bell
Atlantic Infospeed DSL news release, also issued today, 10/5/98).

"Bell Atlantic's addition of the Snap service means our customers will be
provided with more than just speed," said Bob Beran, president-Bell Atlantic
Internet Solutions. "Right out of the gate Snap provides an impressive array
of quality information and brand-name resources. Snap is positioned to keep
pace with longer term developments as well, because it is backed by owners
such as NBC and CNET, companies that clearly understand mulitmedia."

In addition to Web sites, for instance, CNET produces five weekly half-hour
television shows about the Internet and the high-tech industry. Four are
shown on both the USA Network and the USA Network's Sci-Fi Channel.
In addition, "Snap Presents: TV.COM," is nationally syndicated in more than
120 markets.

"Snap and Bell Atlantic.net make a powerful combination," said Halsey Minor,
chief executive officer of both CNET and Snap. "We're going to take the
Internet experience to a whole new level by coupling Snap with the high-
speed, always-on connectivity offered by Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL
service."

The standard version of Snap already provides one of the most powerful ways
to organize and search the Internet, allowing users to customize their view of
the Web with convenient, one-click tabs providing instant access to global,
local or personal Internet navigation, and speed will only improve the
experience. The Bell Atlantic version of Snap will offer resources and content
of special interest to users of the broadband service.

"High-speed ADSL will make use of the Internet not only quicker and more
efficient, but also will enable richer, more compelling multimedia content," said
Minor.

Infospeed DSL with Bell Atlantic.net and Snap are available in selected areas
of Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, today. The services will become available
in parts of Philadelphia and the New Jersey/Hudson River waterfront area in a
matter of weeks.

Early in 1999, Infospeed DSL will be introduced into New York City and
Boston and other markets still to be announced.

Customers interested in ordering a copy of Bell Atlantic.net software and
subscribing to Bell Atlantic's Internet access service can call 1 800 NET-2026,
or visit www.bellatlantic.net. Customers can preview Bell Atlantic's high-speed
portal by visiting www.bellatlantic.net/infospeed.

Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions, Inc., is the unit of Bell Atlantic that delivers
Internet services to the mass market -- from Internet access to electronic mail
to World Wide Web site production, hosting and advertising and shopping
services through BigYellow^sm.

Snap, the free Internet portal service jointly owned and operated by NBC and
CNET (Nasdaq:CNWK), offers the most powerful way to organize and find
anything on the Internet. The service is logically arranged to give users the
quickest route to the best of what they are looking for on the Web, providing
efficient, high-quality search results and directory listings and the most
often-used content.

At the heart of the Snap service is a directory of Web sites, built by a team of
editors and reviewers to ensure its quality, freshness and usefulness. Users
may either search the directory by using keywords, or browse through the
directory's 16 topics: Arts & Humanities, Business & Money, Computing &
Internet, Entertainment, Education, Health, Kids & Family, Living, Local, News
& Media, Oddities, People & Society, Science & Technology, Shopping, Sports,
and Travel. Snap also features content from more than 75 leading Web
publishers. For Internet searching, Snap offers users highly efficient and
effective searching capability online, by tightly integrating a high-quality
topical Internet directory with an advanced search engine. Snap is available to
Web users at www.snap.com and is also distributed by more than 40 leading
Internet Service Providers, PC manufacturers and third-party marketers.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With more than 41 million telephone access lines and more than
seven 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.