Portsmouth Public Library Selected for Bell Atlantic Yellow and White Pages Cover Illustration

Portsmouth Public Library Selected for Bell Atlantic Yellow
and White Pages Cover Illustration

New Directory Features E-Mail and Web Site Listings for First Time

August 27, 1998

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - To help meet the growing online needs of
businesses and consumers, Bell Atlantic's 1998-1999 Yellow and White
Pages for the Portsmouth, N.H., area contains new Internet-related
features. More than 150,000 copies of the directory, which includes a
cover illustration of the Portsmouth Public Library, will be delivered to
Portsmouth-area businesses and residences during the next several weeks.

For the first time in the Portsmouth region, Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages
listings feature an optional extra line for e-mail and Web site addresses in
response to increasing business and consumer use of the Internet.

"The Bell Atlantic directory for the Portsmouth area provides our
customers and advertisers with local information and services that allow for
global access, such as the Internet," says Mary Jo Howe, vice president of
marketing and customer relations for Bell Atlantic Directory Services.

The cover of the new directory features an illustration of the Portsmouth
Public Library, which was established by the Portsmouth City Council in
1881 and moved to its current location in 1896. The 16,480 square-foot
library is composed of three buildings. The oldest building, built in 1809,
originally housed an all-boys school, the Portsmouth Academy. The
Benedict House, completed shortly thereafter, was purchased in the 1950s
to accommodate the library's growth. The third building is a two-story
addition built in 1974 that connects the two older sites. More than
160,000 people visit the Portsmouth Public Library each year.

The new Portsmouth Bell Atlantic Yellow and White Pages also includes
recycling information designed to educate consumers on what, where and
how to recycle in their area.

The directory cover illustrator is artist Mary Lynn Blasutta of New Paltz,
N.Y. Her illustrations are featured on Bell Atlantic's 500 directories in 13
states and Washington, D.C.

Bell Atlantic is the world's largest publisher of Yellow Pages shopping
directories. Its affiliate, Bell Atlantic Electronic Commerce Services, is the
creator of BigYellow^SM, a leading national online shopping service. Bell
Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry.

With more than 41 million telephone access lines and more than 7 million
wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier
providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, and market leaders
in wireless services. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's
largest investors in high-growth global communications markets, with
operations and investments in 23 countries.