Bell Atlantic Brings Its New TV Service to Pittsburgh, Offering Consumers an Alternative to Cable

Bell Atlantic Brings Its New TV Service to
Pittsburgh, Offering Consumers an
Alternative to Cable

Residents of Pittsburgh Can Save $200 in
Programming and Installation Costs When They Sign
Up Before July 11

May 24, 1999

PITTSBURGH - Residents of Pittsburgh who night after night flip
through their cable channels searching for something to watch no longer
have to settle for commercials and reruns.

Bell Atlantic Video is now providing consumers a real choice in television
service by offering more than 210 channels of DIRECTV* programming,
digital-quality pictures and CD-quality sound from satellite-industry
leader DIRECTV. To launch its service in Pittsburgh, Bell Atlantic Video
is offering a $100 discount on installation and $100 worth of coupons for
pay per view movies.

"With Bell Atlantic's television service, residents of Pittsburgh have
an alternative offering real value for the dollar," said Dick Beville,
president of Bell Atlantic Video.

"With the enormous amount of consumer interest in digital satellite
television in recent years, Bell Atlantic Video saw a terrific opportunity to
offer consumers what our research tells us they want -- more
programming choices, easily accessible local channel reception and
competitive pricing," said Beville. "Bell Atlantic Video is the
answer for consumers looking for an easy route to better home
entertainment."
Bell Atlantic's complete package includes:

• Professional installation of the DIRECTV System -- an 18-inch
  satellite dish, receiver and remote control -- for only $99. This
  includes installation of a high-quality, off-air antenna to deliver local
  broadcast channels to all televisions previously hooked up to cable.
  Installation of the off-air antenna represents a $100 saving from Bell
  Atlantic's standard installation price of $199.

• Rental option for set-top boxes -- eliminating up-front equipment
  costs. For $5.99 a month per set-top box, residents of Pittsburgh can enjoy the
  technological advantages of a high-end, digital set-top box and remote
  control without purchase and maintenance requirements.

• Simplified ordering and billing -- consolidating all programming costs
  from DIRECTV, and all equipment fees into one, easy-to-read bill
  from Bell Atlantic Video.

• Customer service from a leading telecommunications company 24
  hours a day, seven days a week.

Concurrent with the introduction of Bell Atlantic's television service in
Pittsburgh, DIRECTV is offering new subscribers $100 worth of pay per
view programming coupons when they sign up for service and the Total
Choice* programming package from DIRECTV between May 27 and July
11. Installation and activation of programming must be completed by
July 21.

Bell Atlantic customers can choose a variety of programming packages
from DIRECTV, the most popular featuring more than 60 top networks
and 31 commercial-free music channels for $29.99 per month. They can
also choose from a selection of premium movie packages, offering
multiple channels from such networks as HBO, SHOWTIME and
STARZ!. With all programming packages, customers have access to as
many as 55 pay per view choices a day, special event pay per view
selections, and a number of professional and collegiate sports subscription
packages.

"We hope to change the expectations of television viewers by
offering them the best in service, quality and choice," said Beville.
"Bell Atlantic Video also offers its television service in the Boston,
Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas and in Delaware
and New Jersey.

More information on the service is available by calling 1-888-379-2355
toll-free, or by visiting Bell Atlantic's World Wide Web site at
www.bellatlantic.com/digitaltv. Certain restrictions apply.

DIRECTV is the nation's leading digital satellite television service with
more than 4.8 million subscribers nationwide. The service offers access to
more than 200 channels of digital entertainment, including popular
networks such as HBO, SHOWTIME, CNN, Disney Channel, ESPN and
USA Network.

Located in Reston, Va., Bell Atlantic Video is a subsidiary of Bell
Atlantic. Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 43 million telephone access lines and nine
million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.

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*DIRECTV and Total Choice are trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of
Hughes Electronics Corporation. The earnings of Hughes Electronics are used to
calculate the earnings per share attributable to GMH (NYSE symbol) common
stock. Visit DIRECTV on the World Wide Web at www.directv.com.

INTERNET USERS: Bell Atlantic news releases, executive speeches, news
media contacts and other useful information are available at Bell Atlantic's News
Center on the World Wide Web (http://www.ba.com). To receive news releases
by email, visit the News Center and register for personalized automatic delivery
of Bell Atlantic news releases.

HBO is a registered service mark of TIME WARNER Entertainment
Company, L.P. SHOWTIME is a service mark of SHOWTIME
Networks, Inc., a VIACOM Company.