Competition Leads Bell Atlantic to Change Phone Number for Repair Service

Competition Leads Bell Atlantic to Change Phone Number for Repair Service

611 Will Become 1-800-275-2355 on March 15

February 12, 1997

ARLINGTON, Va. - Growing competition in local telephone
service and
the need to ensure the company remains easy to reach are prompting
Bell Atlantic to change the telephone number for its repair service.

Starting March 15, Bell Atlantic residential and business customers
will call 1-800-275-2355 to reach the telephone
company's repair
service instead of 611, the current repair number. Business customers
who now call numbers other than 611 for Bell Atlantic repair services
are not affected by this change.

"Competition in local telephone service will continue to heat up
across our mid-Atlantic service area over the next few months," said
Dave Douglas, vice president-regional network operations at Bell
Atlantic Network Services, Inc. "As other companies offer local
telephone service, dialing 611 won't necessarily allow customers to
reach repair service for their local phone company."

"We are changing the Bell Atlantic repair number to
1-800-275-2355 to
ensure that our customers reach our repair service from any phone,
anywhere and at any time."

Commitment to Service Doesn't
Change

Bell Atlantic will continue to answer customers' calls for repair
service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "Bell Atlantic and its
employees remain committed to providing the very best telephone
service," said Douglas. "We've been customers' local phone
company
for more than a century in some areas, and we want to continue to
serve them for the next hundred years."

Until March 15, callers still can reach Bell Atlantic's repair service
by calling 611. After March 15, people who call 611 will begin to
hear a recording directing them to call the 800 number if Bell
Atlantic is their local phone company. The recording also will direct
them to call their local phone service provider if they use another
phone company.

In addition, the new 800 number for repair service began to appear in
1997 Bell Atlantic telephone directories starting last month. Bell
Atlantic customers also will receive information about the change in
their phone bills during March and April.

"We encourage customers to write this number now in their telephone
directories and any other convenient place so they'll know where to
call when they need Bell Atlantic's repair service," said Douglas.
Customers who have other questions about their Bell Atlantic telephone
service should continue to call the appropriate number listed in front
of their directory.

Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE: BEL) is
at the forefront of the new
communications, entertainment and information industry. In the
mid-Atlantic region, the company is the premier provider of local
telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the
largest investors in the high-growth wireless communication
marketplace. Bell Atlantic also owns a substantial interest in
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing
high-growth national and international business opportunities in all
phases of the industry.

####