Ivan Seidenberg says customers will drive technology convergence; NYNEX wins industry award for rapid deployment of fiber-to-the-curb

BOSTON -- NYNEX Chairman Ivan Seidenberg today praised this year's award winners at the National Fiber Optics Engineers Conference for their work in bringing advanced technology to customers. In his keynote address, Seidenberg challenged the attendees to focus on solutions to customer needs.

"Customers, rather than technology, will be driving industry convergence," Seidenberg said. "At NYNEX, we're working with multiple technologies and content providers to give customers greater choice and control."

NYNEX plans to use a variety of technologies to deliver advanced services to customers, including hybrid-fiber coax, switched digital video, ADSL and wireless cable.

Seidenberg said, "NYNEX's technology strategy isn't an either/or. It's an all of the above."

Among this year's award recipients was James Boucher, NYNEX director- Design/Build Fiber to the Curb, who earned the Fourth Annual Fiber in the Loop award for his work in the area of Network Design and Implementation. The industry award was presented by Telephony magazine and ADC Telecommunications.

Thanks to Boucher's efforts in developing the engineering design guidelines for fiber to the curb technology and his leadership role in implementation and scheduling, NYNEX has installed 70,000 lines of fiber- to-the-curb -- more than any other company in the world. Fiber-to-the- curb provides customers with more reliable service, greater capacity and potentially higher transmission speeds.

Noting that today's digital world has "raised the bar" and that customers expect more of their telecommunications company, Seidenberg said, "NYNEX is working hard to take customers where they want to go -- today and tomorrow -- using technology."

Seidenberg cited examples of some of the investments in technology that NYNEX has made including: its video dialtone trial in Manhattan using a hybrid-fiber coax solution; its joint investment in CAI Wireless Inc., an Albany, N.Y., company with licenses to provide wireless cable in key markets; and its joint venture to form TELE-TV, to license, acquire and create programming for delivery over wireless and wireline networks in the partner company regions.

NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications, cable television, directory publishing and entertainment and information services.