Bell Atlantic's New ISP Partnership Program Will Bring Customer Choice to the High-Seed Internet Access Market

Bell Atlantic's New ISP Partnership Program Will Bring Customer Choice to the High-Speed Internet Access Market

September 30, 1998

NEW YORK - Bell Atlantic today launched a new initiative for Internet
service providers (ISPs) that will make getting high-speed Internet
connections easy and will enable customers to choose from a number of
ISPs.

Called the "ISP Partnership Program," the plan offers financial incentives,
assistance and support to help Internet service providers quickly access the
new technology they need to offer Bell Atlantic's digital subscriber line
(DSL) service to their customers.

The new Bell Atlantic service, known as Infospeed DSL, is expected to be
popular with consumers and businesses who are hungry for a quicker
connection to the Internet. Bell Atlantic Infospeed service, which is
powered by Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology, will
offer connections ranging from 11 to 126 times faster the speed of a 56
kilobits per second modem.

Bell Atlantic is negotiating with a wide range of ISPs to make them
authorized sales representatives for Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL service
and to help them configure their Internet service to work with DSL.

"Our new Partnership Program is good for ISPs, consumers and
businesses," said Joe Lucatorto, vice president-Business Data Services,
Bell Atlantic. "It will give ISPs an incentive to offer Bell Atlantic's family
of Infospeed DSL services, and it means consumers will be able to choose
different access providers - something they cannot do with a cable modem
- and yet still know they're getting a high-quality, high-speed connection
from Bell Atlantic."

Bell Atlantic will support the ISP Program with a special help desk and a
toll-free number to provide superior customer service. Bell Atlantic also
will fill customer orders for high-speed connections.

Three levels of Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL connections will be offered.
ISPs can sell all three in conjunction with their Internet access offerings.
Each level of the Bell Atlantic service is priced at a flat monthly rate:
Infospeed 640K at $39.95, Infospeed 1.6M at $59.95 and Infospeed 7.1M
at $109.95. ISP charges will be in addition to these rates.

Infospeed will be available in early October in the Washington, D.C., and
Pittsburgh areas. A month later it will become available in the New Jersey
Hudson River waterfront area and the Philadelphia region. It will be
available in New York City, Boston and other markets beginning in 1999.

Internet service providers interested in participating in the Bell Atlantic
ISP Partnership Program can send e-mail to Bell Atlantic at
Make.It.Happen@bell-atl.com and request the
"ADSL ISP Partnership Program &amp Service Overview Package."

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.