Cellular Customers Now Have Direct Link To National Domestic Violence Hotline

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Cellular Customers Now Have Direct Link To National Domestic Violence Hotline

Bell Atlantic Mobile's *HOPE Feature Gives Victims Immediate
Access to Help

October 1, 1998

Media
contact:

Andrea Linskey,
(908) 306-7845
Jim Gerace,
(908) 306-7508

BEDMINSTER, NJ -- Bell Atlantic Mobile is the first wireless carrier to
introduce a toll-and airtime-free link to the National Domestic Violence
Hotline, allowing users to simply dial *HOPE from their wireless phones to
reach the hotline. This feature ensures fast and easy access for Bell
Atlantic Mobile customers in abusive situations to obtain advice at anytime
when calling from anywhere in the company's Maine to Georgia footprint.
With this new feature, Bell Atlantic Mobile is once again leading the
corporate charge in the fight against domestic violence.

Customers will be alerted of the *HOPE feature via a bill message during
the month of October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The hotline
can also be reached by dialing 1-800-799-SAFE from any phone.

As part of its ongoing relationship with the Family Violence Prevention
Fund, Bell Atlantic Mobile will also provide customers at its 200
Communications Stores, as well as its 7,000 employees, awareness cards
featuring tips on how women can protect themselves from an abuser.

"We greatly value Bell Atlantic Mobile's commitment to victims of
domestic violence with the establishment of their *HOPE link to our
National Hotline," said Cindy Perkins, executive director of the National
Domestic Violence Hotline. "Since women who fear abuse often cannot
seek assistance from their home phone because it has been turned off or
because their conversations are monitored, this cell phone link is a
wonderful tool."

"At Bell Atlantic Mobile, we have concentrated our philanthropic efforts
on domestic violence in the hope that by educating employees, and by
providing essential tools to those who are in the position to assist victims,
we can better recognize the symptoms and play an active role in both the
domestic violence prevention and life rebuilding processes," said Denny
Strigl
, group president and CEO, Bell Atlantic Global Wireless. "With
October designated as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, now
is the opportune time to focus on how we can all make a difference."

Bell Atlantic Mobile's dedication to assist victims of domestic violence is
reflected in a number of company sponsored events and donations during
the month of October, bringing domestic violence awareness closer to
home in the regional areas it serves.

Throughout its service area, Bell Atlantic Mobile is working with a number
of organizations this month. These include:

  • Alle-Kiski Hope Center of Tarentum (Pennsylvania)
  • Boston City Hospital
  • Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • District of Columbia
  • Employers Against Domestic Violence (Massachusetts)
  • Family Violence Prevention Fund
  • Governor's Commission Against Domestic Violence (Massachusetts)
  • Manhattan District Attorney's Office
  • Md. Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention, Violence Against
    Women
  • Massachusetts Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • Men for Change (North Carolina)
  • Meriden Domestic Violence Shelter (Connecticut)
  • New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women
  • New Jersey Department of Human Services
  • New Jersey State Police
  • New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • Philadelphia District Attorney's Office
  • Philadelphia Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit
  • Philadelphia Stop Domestic Violence
  • Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • St. Raphael Hospital (New Haven, CT)
  • Shelter for Battered Women (North Carolina)
  • Silent Witness Program (New Jersey)
  • Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
  • Volunteers Against Abuse Center (Butler County, PA)
  • Westchester (New York) District Attorney's Office
  • Womansplace (McKeesport, PA)
  • Women Against Abuse (Philadelphia)
  • Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
  • Working Wardrobe (Philadelphia)
  • YWCA of Wilmington, Delaware

Since 1995, Bell Atlantic Mobile has focused its philanthropic efforts,
under the "Wireless at Work..." community service program, on assisting
victims of domestic violence by utilizing the company's resources and
technology in a variety of ways. These include its HopeLine program,
which provides free voice mail boxes to victims residing in shelters, and
donations of pre-programmed wireless 9-1-1 phones to police departments
and district attorneys' offices to distribute to women at risk. This year the
company earmarked $100,000 to help victims by providing wireless
technology solutions.

Editor's Note: For more information on local events, visit the "In the
News" section of Bell Atlantic Mobile's web site: www.bam.com.

Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the largest wireless network in the
East, covering 116,000 square miles, and the largest chain of retail outlets
devoted exclusively to wireless voice, data and paging. Based in
Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic Mobile has 5.7 million customers and 7,000
employees from Maine to Georgia and, through a separate subsidiary, in
the Southwest. Through its "Wireless at Work..." community service
program, the company uses its technology to help individuals and
communities improve security and emergency communications. Bell
Atlantic Mobile's parent is one of the world's largest wireless
communications companies, with domestic operations in 25 states and
international investments in Mexico, Europe and the Pacific Rim. For more
information on Bell Atlantic Mobile visit: www.bam.com; on global
operations visit: www.bellatlantic.com/worldwide.

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