AT&T Dismisses Advertising Suit Brought Against Bell Atlantic

AT&T Dismisses Advertising Suit
Brought Against Bell
Atlantic

October 3, 1996

ARLINGTON, Va. -- AT&T today dismissed with
prejudice the lawsuit it
had brought against Bell Atlantic, in which AT&T had claimed that
Bell
Atlantic's advertisements were false. AT&T deeply regrets the
circumstances, including its own role in them, that brought these
parties into court on this matter. Bell Atlantic had advertised that
"THE END IS NEAR" for AT&T calling card holders' ability to
use 0+
dialing to place local and regional toll calls in the Bell Atlantic
service area.

The Federal Court in the Eastern District of Virginia on July 19
vacated an order it had entered prohibiting Bell Atlantic from running
the advertisements. The parties have now resolved their differences,
and the case has been dropped by AT&T. "AT&T is limiting
its own
customers' ability to make 0+ local and regional toll calls," said
Lorraine E.
Chickering, president of Bell Atlantic Public and Operator
Services, "and we are pleased that with the Court's July 19 ruling
and
the end of the lawsuit, we can inform customers of that fact." Bell
Atlantic will continue to inform customers that AT&T card holders are
currently unable to use 0+ dialing for local and regional toll calls
in the Bell Atlantic area.

"Regional toll calls" are calls outside a customer's local
calling
area but not quite far enough to be long distance. Local white pages
include specific definitions of the Regional Calling Areas within
which regional toll calls are made.

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.

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