Bell Atlantic and GTE Announce Leadership For Merged Company

Bell Atlantic and GTE
Announce Leadership For Merged Company

November 4, 1999

NEW YORK and IRVING, Texas -- GTE Chairman and CEO Charles
R. Lee and Bell Atlantic Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg announced
today the broad organization of the company to be formed through the
Bell Atlantic-GTE merger, and designated six executives to fill key
positions upon completion of the transaction.

Three of those executives -- Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr., Michael T. Masin
and Frederic V. Salerno - will be named vice chairmen with specific
responsibilities as described below.

As previously announced, Lee and Seidenberg will be co-CEOs and
chairman and president, respectively, of the new company. They will be
the inside directors on the new company's board, along with a set of
outside directors drawn from the two companies' existing boards. The
executives designated today will report to Lee and Seidenberg.

Babbio, currently Bell Atlantic president and COO, has been designated
president as well as vice chairman, with responsibility for the new
company's domestic wireline business. He will also be responsible for
long distance, information technology, procurement services and
technology research.

Masin, currently GTE vice chairman and president of GTE International,
also has been designated president as well as vice chairman, with
responsibility for international wireline and wireless operations,
international connectivity, domestic and international directory and
information services, and GTE Internetworking.

Dennis F. Strigl, chairman and CEO of Bell Atlantic's Global Wireless
Group, has been designated executive vice president of the new company,
and president of its domestic wireless business, which ultimately will
include the U.S. assets of Vodafone AirTouch.

When the Vodafone AirTouch transaction is completed, Strigl will join the
board of the new wireless venture, along with Seidenberg, who will chair
this board, Babbio, Masin and three representatives from Vodafone
AirTouch, including Vodafone AirTouch chief executive Chris Gent.
Salerno, currently Bell Atlantic senior executive vice president and chief
financial officer, has been designated chief financial officer of the new
company as well as vice chairman, and will head the corporate Finance
group.

William P. Barr has been designated executive vice president and general
counsel, heading up the Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs group.
Barr is currently GTE executive vice president -- Government and
Regulatory Advocacy and general counsel.

J. Randall MacDonald, GTE executive vice president - Human Resources
and Administration, has been designated executive vice president of
human resources for the new company.

The designated executives will be based at the new company's
headquarters in New York City.

"As we move closer to the completion of our merger, I believe more
strongly than ever that we are creating one of the top telecommunications
companies in the world," Lee said. "It will be the role of these
key leaders to help further define how we structure within these broad
umbrellas to ensure we come out of the blocks quickly once our merger is
approved, and capture the tremendous growth in our industry."

"Today we have created a framework in which we can align our two
companies and build upon our respective strengths," Seidenberg
said. "We have also made choices from two of the deepest
management teams in the industry. Our designated executives will have
the accountability and decision-making authority necessary to start the
next phase of merger planning."

Bell Atlantic and GTE announced a merger of equals in July 1998 that
will create the leading U.S. wireline and wireless communications
provider, with more than 60 million access lines and 21 million wireless
customers. To date, shareowners of both companies have approved the
merger, and the Department of Justice has cleared the merger. Regulators
in 7 states and the Federal Communications Commission are currently
considering the public interest benefits of the merger. More information

on the merger is available at Bell Atlantic's News Center on the World
Wide Web (http://www.ba.com) or at GTE's homepage
(http://www.gte.com).