Bell Atlantic Executive Dennis Bone Honored as West Virginia's 'Son of the Year'

Bell Atlantic Executive Dennis Bone Honored
as West Virginia's 'Son of the Year'

Bone Praised as "True Champion of New
Technology"

May 20, 1999

WASHINGTON -- The West Virginia Society of Washington, D.C.,
today named Dennis M. Bone as its 1999 Son of the Year. Bone,
president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - West Virginia, is a West Virginia
native.

West Virginia Gov. Cecil H. Underwood praised Bone for being "a
true champion of new technology" in the state. Dennis Bone, he
said, is an example of someone who meets challenges "with vigor,
vision and vitality."

Underwood, the Society's 1998 Son of the Year, will recognize Bone at a
dinner tonight in Washington. In addition to the governor, the dinner will
also be attended by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Congressmen
Alan Mollohan, Nick Rahall and Bob Wise.

"We're deeply proud of Dennis and the work he has done in West
Virginia," said Toby Webb, Bell Atlantic executive vice president-
external affairs and corporate communications. "The Society has
discovered what we at Bell Atlantic have known all along -- Dennis Bone
is deeply committed to enriching the lives of his fellow West Virginians.
He and his Bell Atlantic team have transformed West Virginia's
telecommunications infrastructure into a showpiece for the rest of the
nation."

The West Virginia Society of Washington, D.C., each year honors a Son
and a Daughter
of West Virginia. The prestigious awards are presented to West Virginia
natives who have brought honor to the state. The 1999 Daughter of the
Year is Kay Huffman Goodwin, a volunteer in the areas of arts and
education.

Bone was instrumental in forging a public-private partnership with the
state to build a new 21st-century telecommunications network. Called
WEST VIRGINIA 2001, the network can transmit vast amounts of voice,
data and video simultaneously at incredible speeds.

Bell Atlantic's advanced network has prompted numerous new businesses
to locate in the state. Bone's vision and determination are credited with
helping to attract thousands of new jobs to West Virginia, including
Coldwater Creek, a catalogue shopping company that has located in the
western part of the state, employing up to 1,000 people.
WEST VIRGINIA 2001 has already led to the introduction of new
"high-tech" services, including a program called the
Courtroom of the Future. The Courtroom of the Future uses a fully
interactive video system that allows judicial officials to conduct pre-
hearing proceedings without transporting inmates from the jail.

Bone has also been instrumental in providing support to help wire every
school in West Virginia to the Internet, and his company has supplied
grants to teachers, through its WORLD
SCHOOL initiative, to encourage them to make wider use of the
resources on the World Wide Web.

Bone hails from Dry Creek, W.Va., in western Raleigh County. He
graduated from Marsh Fork High School and received a bachelor's degree
in mathematics from the West Virginia University Institute of
Technology. He also has a master of business administration degree in
finance and economics from Rutgers University and a master of science
degree in counseling from The Johns Hopkins University.

Following college, he taught high school math and science for five years
in Annapolis, Md. In 1979, he joined New Jersey Bell Telephone
Company (now Bell Atlantic - New Jersey) as an outside plant engineer.
He rose through the ranks in New Jersey, where he was named vice
president for external affairs in 1992. He returned to the Mountain State
in 1995, when he was appointed to his current position.

Bone is involved in a myriad of civic and professional activities in the
state. He is the current chairman of the West Virginia State Chamber of
Commerce and is a member of the Governor's Science and Technology
Advisory Council. He is also a director of the West Virginia Roundtable.

Bone is also on the board of advisors of West Virginia University and is a
trustee of both the Marshall University Society of Yeager Scholars and
the University of Charleston.

Bone and his wife have three children and live in Charleston.

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.