Bell Atlantic Executive Voices Confidence in Telecom Industry Progress on Year 2000 Bug
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Bell Atlantic Executive Voices Confidence in Telecom Industry
Progress on Year 2000 Bug
Joseph Castellano Testifies Before Senate Panel; Calls for
Support of Bill to Promote Information Exchange
July 31, 1998
| Media contact: | Jim Smith, |
WASHINGTON -- Joseph
Castellano, Bell Atlantic president of network
and corporate systems, today informed a U.S. Senate panel examining year
2000 issues in the telecommunications industry that Bell Atlantic and its
counterparts are well along in meeting the challenges of the so-called
"millennium bug."
"We are confident that our networks will be ready," Castellano told Sen.
Bob Bennett (R-Utah), chairman of the Special Committee on the Year
2000 Problem. Large telecommunications carriers across the nation are
working independently and together to purge networks and related
software systems of glitches that might kick in when the calendar changes
from 1999 to 2000, he said.
Castellano also testified that concerns over liability have had "an adverse
impact on the free exchange of year 2000-related information" within the
telecommunications industry.
Information about compliance status, year 2000 technology and "fixes"
must flow freely among carriers, their suppliers and customers in order for
work to proceed effectively in the time remaining, he said.
He stressed the need this year for Congress to pass legislation, such as the
Year 2000 Information Disclosure Act, to lessen these liability concerns.
The proposed legislation, which was introduced in the Senate today,
would protect a company from liability in the event that information it
shared in good faith turned out to be inaccurate.
Bell Atlantic -- formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX --
is at the forefront of the new communications and information industry.
With more than 41 million telephone access lines and more than seven
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.