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Bell Atlantic Donates Local Phone
Service in Red Cross Shelters
Company Also Donates Pre-Paid Cards
to Families Displaced by Ice Storm
January 15, 1998
| Media contacts: | Jack Hoey Mark Marchand |
NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic will provide free local calls to families seeking
refuge from the ice storm in Red Cross shelters across northern New England and New York.
The company will also donate pre-paid $5 calling cards to temporary residents
of the shelters.
"People driven out of their homes by the ice storms should not be cut off from the
rest of the world. They need the support of family and friends. They also need
regular updates on service restoration efforts by Bell Atlantic and the electric
utilities. We hope that providing free phone service helps to make their stay a
little easier to bear," said Raymond W. Smith, Bell Atlantic chairman.
The Bell Atlantic Foundation has donated $250,000 to help defray expenses at the
more than 80 American Red Cross shelters serving Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont
and New York. It is the largest private donation the Red Cross has received for
this relief effort.
Bell Atlantic crews, including technicians called in from areas as far away as
Delaware, will continue to work round-the-clock over the weekend to maintain or
restore telephone service.
The company also was making preparations today for the possible severe ice and
snow storm forecast to sweep across the region over the next 24 hours.
Bell Atlantic - formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX - is at the
forefront of the new communications, information and entertainment industry. With
40 million telephone access lines and 5.8 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 21 countries.