NYNEX goes national with online yellow pages; connecting businesses and consumers nationwide over the Internet

MIDDLETON, MA -- NYNEX today announced that it has expanded its online Yellow Pages service so that consumers can now find virtually any business in the United States.

There is no charge to consumers for the service.

NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages (TM), available on the Internet's World Wide Web (http://www.niyp.com), now offers consumers 16.5 million business listings from throughout the nation. The directory includes business type, name, address, and telephone number. It is the United States' first and only complete online national business phone directory. Since May, NYNEX has offered its regional business phone listings on the service.

NYNEX creates advertising on the service for interested businesses. Advertising units range from brief business profiles for $100 to four pages of display advertising for about $3,000. Already, NYNEX has created ads for some 2,500 businesses.

In addition, the NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages currently offers direct links to the Web sites of businesses and offers any business the opportunity to "hot link" their Web site to their listing.

"The NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages is the most comprehensive Web-based shopping directory available," said Mat Stover, president and chief executive officer of NYNEX Information Resources Co. "For the first time there is a national directory to bring buyers and sellers together. The NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages lets individual shoppers create their own directory experience -- listing the products and services they need by category, neighborhood, city, state, or even the entire nation."

Other NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages enhancements announced today include the following:

--Web site reviews and ratings. When shoppers look up popular headings, they will find a summary and rating of linked Web sites. For example, someone looking for a specific brand of car may click on a nearby button to get performance data on the car manufacturer and its current models.

--A section called "Your World," where consumers can connect directly to Web sites that may help them in their daily lives. Subjects include, travel, music, movies, children, the 1996 Olympics, and even seasonal topics like Halloween.

--A streamlined design and more powerful search tools, which make navigating the service quicker and easier than ever.

Users will find the NYNEX Interactive Yellow Pages well-organized and easy to navigate. It is organized by familiar A-Z shopping headings much like traditional Yellow Pages directories and may be searched by business names, type of business and geography. Other special features include a "Hot Sites" list of new and exciting Web sites, and a special text capability to provide access for the visually impaired.

Businesses and consumers nationwide can learn more about the service by accessing it on the Internet at http://www.niyp.com or by calling 1-800-356-9639.

NYNEX Information Resources Co., based in Middleton, Mass., is a leading provider of printed, online, interactive, and data base information services. Note: Screen shots available electronically or in print. Call Phil Santoro at 508/762-1326

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.