Bell Atlantic Unveils New Albany Area Directories In Ceremony at Historic Cherry Hill

Bell Atlantic Unveils New Albany Area Directories In Ceremony at Historic Cherry Hill

New Yellow Pages Internet Features Include E-mail and Web Site Addresses

March 31, 1998

BETHESDA, Md. -- Bell Atlantic has begun delivery of 254,000 copies of
its new 1998 Albany County & Southern Rensselaer County directory to
area businesses and residences. The directory has an illustration of
Historic Cherry Hill on the cover and includes new Internet-related
features.

At an unveiling ceremony today at Historic Cherry Hill, Bell Atlantic
officials presented John Abbuhl, president of the museum's board of
trustees, with a framed copy of the new directory cover.

"The Bell Atlantic directories for the Albany area reflect our belief
in providing our customers and advertisers with local information and
services that allow for global access, such as the Internet," said Don
Flanders, executive director of sales at Bell Atlantic Directory
Services.

The 1998 directory includes new Internet-related features, such as the
Guide of Internet Services, which is listed under the Internet
heading. The Guide is a quick resource to area businesses that provide
various Internet services, ranging from access providers to Web site
designers. Also, for the first time in the Albany region, Yellow
Pages listings feature an optional extra line for E-mail and Web site
addresses in response to growing use of the Internet by businesses.
Industry analysts report that some 50 percent of all U.S. companies
have set up Web sites.

The cover of the new directory features an illustration of Historic
Cherry Hill. Built in 1787, the gambrel-roofed, Georgian-style house
was home to five consecutive generations of the Van Rensselaer-Rankin
family. In accordance with the will of Emily Watkinson Rankin, the
last family descendent to reside at Cherry Hill, the house, its
grounds, as well as 50,000 objects and manuscripts became a public
museum in 1963.

"Cherry Hill represents an important part of Albany's history," said
Abbuhl. "We are honored that Bell Atlantic has acknowledged the
significance of our institution by selecting it for the cover of the
Albany-area directories."

The directory cover illustrator is artist Mary Lynn Blasutta, who is
based in New Paltz, N.Y. Her illustrations will be featured on each
of Bell Atlantic's 500 directories in the communities it serves in 13
states and Washington, D.C.

Bell Atlantic is the world's largest publisher of Yellow Pages
directories.

Bell Atlantic (NYSE: BEL) is at the forefront of the new
communications and information industry. With 40.5 million telephone
access lines and six million wireless customers worldwide, Bell
Atlantic companies are the premier providers of advanced wireline
voice and data services in the eastern United States and market
leaders in wireless services. Bell Atlantic companies are also among
the world's largest investors in high-growth global communications
markets, with operations and investments in 21 countries.