Chinese Community Embraces Latest Directory From Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages

Chinese Community Embraces Latest
Directory From
Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages

New product features makes shopping easier for
New York City's Chinese community

Feb. 10, 2000

MANHATTAN, N.Y.- As Chinese people everywhere welcome in the Year of
the Dragon, New York City's Chinese residents are receiving something that will
make their lives easier this year - Bell Atlantic's new 2000 New York City
Yellow Pages directory for the Chinese community.

"We created the product because we want to provide Chinese consumers
with a comprehensive guide including all the information they need to live in and
get around New York City," said Mary Jo Howe, vice president -
Marketing, Strategy, and Customer Care for Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages.
"The directory extends our company's commitment to make it easier for
multi-cultural buyers to find what they need and for merchants to reach all
members of New York's diverse community in their preferred language."

In addition to business phone numbers, for the first time the Chinese directory
contains a section of menus from local restaurants for making dining decisions,
money saving coupons on products and services, and includes a recycling guide.
There also is an easy-to-use index of popular categories, such as computers,
lawyers, restaurants and automotive. The nearly 100 Inside Interest pages in the
front of the book include cultural, recreation, education, immigration,
transportation and community information, plus the complete Chinese Lunar
calendar.

The cover of the new directory was unveiled during a recent ceremony attended
by Chinese consumers, community and prominent business leaders. The cover
illustration is a Chinese painting in the Ming dynasty style. More than 250,000
copies of the latest directory are being distributed this month to Chinese residents
and businesses throughout Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. The wide
distribution, including home deliveries and secondary distribution outlets, such
as grocery stores, restaurants and community centers, makes the book easily
accessible by anyone.

This year marks the third edition of the directory by Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages,
publisher of more than 500 White and Yellow Page directories with more than
100 years of experience, and World Journal, publisher of the largest daily
Chinese-language newspaper in North America.

Extensive market research in the New York City area has proven that Chinese
consumers prefer to use in-language resources to learn about products and
services available at local businesses. The Chinese-language Yellow Pages is one
of several in-language products that Bell Atlantic offers consumers. The
company also publishes a fully bilingual English-Spanish Yellow Pages directory
for the Bronx in addition to several community directories.

With more than 500 directories published in the United States, Bell
Atlantic Yellow Pages is the world's largest publisher of Yellow Pages
shopping directories with total circulation exceeding 86 million. The
company also has Yellow Pages directory operations in six countries
outside the U.S., where it publishes more than 14.7 million copies of 134
shopping directory editions. Its affiliate, Bell Atlantic Electronic
Commerce Services, is creator of BigYellow.com, a leading online
shopping service on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With nearly 44 million telephone access lines and 12
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.