Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, New Equipment, Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services to Ridgefield Park Area

Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, New
Equipment, Bringing Additional Advanced
Technology, Services
to Ridgefield Park Area

Company Invests $263,000 to Expand, Upgrade
Local Telephone Network

May 24, 1999

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. -- Bell Atlantic has installed new fiber-optic
cable and electronic equipment in Ridgefield Park as part of a $263,000
project to upgrade the local telephone network and provide advanced
telecommunications services to its customers.

This new digital loop carrier system will allow Bell Atlantic to offer
additional phone lines to accommodate growth in the Ridgefield Park area.
This new technology will also allow Bell Atlantic to expand its ability to
offer advanced high-speed data services and it 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.

"Bell Atlantic is meeting or exceeding its commitment to bring the
benefits of the Information Age to every citizen of the Garden
State," said William M. Freeman, president of Bell Atlantic -- New
Jersey. "Through projects like this one, we are investing nearly $20
million per week in our telecommunications network to provide New
Jersey's residential and business communities with high-speed access to
the Internet, work-at-home capabilities, as well as a host of other
innovative advanced services."

Freeman said Bell Atlantic is aggressively deploying advanced technology
in its network:

• Annual spending on the New Jersey network increased 53
  percent from $619 million in 1995 to more than $945 million in
  1998.

• Miles of fiber-optic cable in New Jersey increased by 55 percent
  from 745,655 in 1995 to more than 1.15 million at the end of 1998.

• The percentage of digital call-routing switches has grown from
  87 percent in 1995 to 96 percent at the end of 1998, and New
  Jersey will have all-digital switching by the end of 1999.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL was launched in New Jersey 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 has kept its promises under Opportunity New Jerseysm
and Access New Jerseysm," Freeman said. "We have invested
$4.2 billion in New Jersey since 1993 and plan to invest another billion
dollars this year. As a result, we have delivered a high-speed data network
to schools, libraries and urban areas a year ahead of schedule, and New
Jersey enjoys the enviable reputation of being a technologically-rich
state."

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

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition,"
Freeman said. "We can't compel 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 42 million telephone access lines and 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.