Bell Atlantic Continues Strong Service Quality Improvement in New York

Bell Atlantic Continues Strong Service Quality Improvement in New York

NY Regulators to Review Data Tomorrow

November 23, 1998

NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic continued strong service quality
improvement in New York during the last quarter of 1997 and the first
three quarters of 1998. The company said today it had met the more than
4,700 targets the company was required to meet during the third year of
the seven-year regulatory plan under which Bell Atlantic operates in New
York.

These results, achieved under one of the toughest service quality
plans in the country, have been submitted to the New York Public Service
Commission (PSC) and will be reviewed by the agency tomorrow.

"Whether you measure our progress by the overall customer
trouble report rate or you look at the dramatically reduced number of
customer complaints, we're continuing the strong progress we began in
1996," said Lawrence Babbio, president and CEO, Network Group. "This
is part of our overall Customer Care strategy. We're investing the
financial and people resources to give our customers the service quality
they deserve."

In New York, Bell Atlantic operates under a Performance
Regulation Plan (PRP), which the company agreed to with the PSC in
1995. This plan contains monthly, quarterly and annual objectives the
company must meet each year. When targets are not met, rebates are paid
to affected customers. And each year of the seven-year plan, the targets
are raised to higher levels.

During the third year of the plan, which began Sept. 1, 1997, and
ended Aug. 31, 1998, the company met all the primary PRP targets dealing
with reported troubles on customer lines, lines out of service for more than
24 hours, missed repair appointments and numerous other specific
measures. Under the most important measurement during this period, Bell
Atlantic reduced all customer trouble reports in New York by 4 percent, or
by more than 161,000 reports.

This improvement continued during the third quarter when some
results were affected as the company dealt with severe weather in parts of
upstate New York.

Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of customers complain to PSC

Bell Atlantic also continued to reduce customer complaints to the
PSC, lowering the number by about 30 percent between the second and
third years of the plan. Overall, only about 4,400 customers filed a
complaint with the PSC from September 1997 to August 1998 --
representing less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the company's
approximately eight million New York customers.

"These results follow an intensive effort over the last several years
during which we've invested more than $1.6 billion annually in the
telephone network that serves New Yorkers," said Babbio. "And since
1996, we added over 3,000 service-related jobs here in the city and
throughout the state.

"Rest assured that we won't stop here," added Babbio. "The
provision of high-quality service is a competitive strategy for us in a very
competitive marketplace."

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With more than 42 million telephone access lines
and more than eight 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.