Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, Electronics, Bringing Advanced Technology, Services to Coudersport Area

Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, Electronics,
Bringing Advanced Technology, Services
to Coudersport Area

Company Invests $600,000 to Expand, Upgrade
Local Telephone Network

August 11, 1999

COUDERSPORT, Pa. -- Bell Atlantic is installing new fiber-optic cable
and associated electronic equipment in the Potter County community of
Coudersport as part of a $600,000 project to upgrade the local telephone
network and provide increased bandwidth to its customers.

Bell Atlantic has placed a cable containing 48 fibers through the
downtown area of Coudersport. The company also has deployed a 36-
fiber cable along Route 6 to provide broadband availability to an industrial
park. Other fiber optic cable is being placed along Buffalo Street (Route
872), and an additional section of cable will provide broadband
availability to local schools. Construction to replace copper cable in the
Coudersport area began in January and is expected to be completed by
December, 1999.

This new technology will allow Bell Atlantic to expand its ability to offer
advanced high-speed data services and provides additional reliability and
survivability in the Bell Atlantic network. Fiber-optic systems use hair-
thin glass fibers and digital technology to deliver high quality telephone
service along with high-capacity/high-speed voice and data transmission
services.

"This project is the latest evidence that Bell Atlantic is meeting our
commitment to deliver a state-of-the-art telecommunications network
throughout Pennsylvania," said Daniel J. Whelan, president of Bell
Atlantic - Pennsylvania. "We are accelerating our construction
schedules to provide rural and urban customers with high-speed access to
the Internet, work-at-home capabilities, as well as a host of other
innovative advanced services."

Whelan said Bell Atlantic has made major strides in deploying advanced
technology in its network:

• Annual spending on the Pennsylvania network nearly doubled
  from $539 million in 1995 to more than $961 million in 1998.

• Miles of fiber-optic cable in the commonwealth increased by 66
  percent from 474,450 in 1995 to 786,106 at the end of 1998.

• Percentage of digital call-routing switches has grown from 90.3
  percent in 1995 to 96 percent at the end of 1998.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL was launched in Pennsylvania
  last fall. Infospeed DSL is a secure, high-speed, always-on
  Internet access services that enables consumers to connect to
  cyberspace at speeds up to 100 times faster than today's fastest
  analog modems.

"Bell Atlantic is keeping its promises to Pennsylvania,"
Whelan said. "We are building and enhancing a public
telecommunications network in Pennsylvania that is the finest in the world
and is a vital part of the commonwealth's economic infrastructure."

In addition to deploying the latest technology, Bell Atlantic has spent tens
of millions of dollars to open Pennsylvania's local telephone market to
competition.

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition,"
Whelan said. "We can't force the long distance giants or anyone else
to compete here, but anyone who genuinely wants to enter our markets can
do so."

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With more than 43 million telephone access lines
and nearly 10 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.