Eurotel Praha Completes First Year of GSM Digital Service

Eurotel Praha Completes First Year of GSM Digital Service

Bell Atlantic wireless investment among European growth leaders

June 22, 1997

Prague, the Czech Republic & Philadelphia, Pa. - In its first year
offering digital service, EuroTel Praha signed on more than two
percent of the Czech population - 200,000 customers in a country of 10
million people - to its GSM (Global System for Mobile) network. In
July 1996, the Czech Republic-based Bell Atlantic investment became
the first operator in that country to offer GSM.

With more than 272,000 analog and digital customers, EuroTel has
become one of Europe's fastest growing wireless businesses.

"One million mobile customers in the Czech Republic isn't hard to
imagine in the near future," said EuroTel's Chief Executive Officer
Mac Allman. "Increased coverage and quality, lower prices, and new,
more advanced services are stimulating demand and offering even
greater convenience and mobility to the customer."

During the past year, EuroTel has exceeded all requirements for GSM
licensing in the country, covering approximately 74 percent of the
geography, nearly 84 percent of the population, and about 92 percent
of the country's major roadways.

System engineering also managed to stay ahead of demand, with quality
measurements at lower than three percent for both blocked calls and
dropped calls.

Over the past year, EuroTel has developed pricing strategies for a
variety of customer segments. Three months ago, the company began its
"START Program," the country's lowest-priced monthly access package,
helping the company add more than 50 percent of all new customers.

The company also says its customer value equation has been boosted by
positioning new services alongside successful traditional features
like voicemail and call waiting.

EuroTel now offers such fare as "InfoText" a service that turns mobile
phone displays into text messaging tools, "Mobile Internet" for direct
Internet access, and Fax Mailboxes to manage faxes by phone from
virtually any location.

"Flexible pricing, innovative services, enhanced networks, and
customer service are hallmarks of a company that leads the
marketplace. Bell Atlantic continues to assist EuroTel in leading the
market on each of these elements," said Tom Bartlett, president and
chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic International Wireless.

EuroTel Praha spol. s r.o. is a joint venture between SPT Telecom,
a.s., and the Atlantic West B.V. consortium consisting of Bell
Atlantic and US West.

Bell Atlantic Corporation (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.