Bell Atlantic Deploys New Equipment Bringing Additional Advanced Technology, Services to West Philadelphia

Bell Atlantic Deploys New Equipment
Bringing Additional Advanced Technology,
Services
to West Philadelphia

Company Invests $3.1 Million to Expand, Upgrade
Local Telephone Service

June 21, 1999

PHILADELPHIA -- Bell Atlantic is installing a new digital switch, a
state-of-the-art computer that routes calls to their destinations, in its
Saratoga telephone office in west Philadelphia as part of an $3.1 million
project to upgrade the local telephone network and provide advanced
telecommunications services to its customers.

The new digital switch replaces an analog switch, furthering Bell
Atlantic's commitment to have 100 percent digital call switching in
Pennsylvania by the end of the year 2000. The change from the old to the
new switch will be made this weekend but won't cause any disruption in
service to customers.

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.

"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 service that enables consumers to connect to cyberspace at

"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 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.