Bell Atlantic Executive Patrick F. X. Mulhearn To Leave the Company

Bell Atlantic Executive Patrick F. X. Mulhearn To Leave the Company

December 10, 1999

NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic Corp. announced today that Patrick F.X.
Mulhearn, vice president -- Corporate Communications, will leave the
company Dec. 31 to pursue a new career outside his current
responsibilities and the telecommunications industry.

In his current position, Mulhearn is responsible for managing the
corporation's reputation. He directs all communications with employees,
the media and other stakeholders, and oversees the activities of the Bell
Atlantic Foundation.

"Pat Mulhearn has helped explain what Bell Atlantic is and what we
want to become, not only to the outside world, but to ourselves as
well," says Ivan Seidenberg, Bell Atlantic Chairman and CEO.
"Over the years I've worked with him, his judgment and sense of innovation have
helped us find new ways to
deliver our message and win support. He leaves Bell Atlantic a more
articulate and insurgent corporation -- an organization with a great story to
tell, and one that's smarter, more aggressive and more effective in telling
it."

Paul A. Crotty, senior vice president -- New York and Connecticut, has
been named acting vice president -- Corporate Communications, and will
perform Mulhearn's duties in addition to his current responsibilities until
completion of the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger.

Mulhearn has spent 11 years with Bell Atlantic companies, joining New
York Telephone in October 1988 as executive director-Business
Marketing Operations and serving as vice president and chief operating
officer-NYNEX Information Resources, NYNEX's directory publishing
company, vice president-Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at
New York Telephone, and vice president-Public Relations for NYNEX, a
position he assumed in January 1994. He assumed his current position
when the Bell Atlantic-NYNEX merger was completed in August 1997.

Before joining New York Telephone, Mulhearn served as counsel to New
York City Mayor Ed Koch from 1982 to 1988. As the mayor's top legal
and policy advisor, he played an integral role in city government. He
began his career with the City in 1976 as a litigator in the Office of the
Corporation Counsel, and went on to serve in a variety of supervisory
capacities. He was awarded the Medal of the City of New York for
distinguished public service in 1988.

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.