Bell Atlantic First Regional Phone Company to Join Home Phoneline Networking Alliance

Bell Atlantic First Regional Phone Company
to Join
Home Phoneline Networking Alliance

Company Demonstrates Future of High-Speed Home
Networking
at PC Expo Using Bell Atlantic Infospeed^sm DSL

June 23, 1999

NEW YORK -- Recognizing the needs of the growing number of
households with multiple computers, Bell Atlantic today becomes the first
regional Bell company to join the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance
(HomePNA), a consortium of industry leaders committed to establishing a
universal standard for high-speed home networking using existing copper
phone lines.

As more households get high-speed Internet access, home networking
products will enable family members and people with home offices to
connect multiple PCs to the Internet simultaneously so all can take
advantage of that high speed. They also will be able to swap files between
PCs, enjoy multi-player games and to share printers, fax machines and
scanners.

This week, Bell Atlantic is demonstrating some of these advanced home
networking capabilities using Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL (digital
subscriber line) service and HomePNA compatible products at PC Expo in
New York City.

"As the availability of high-speed Internet access takes off, we're
seeing more and more consumers who have two or more computers at
home that they want to network so every computer user can take
advantage of our Infospeed DSL service," said Amy McIntosh,
president of Consumer Data Services for Bell Atlantic. "HomePNA
is leading the way to developing affordable, interoperable and consumer-
friendly home networking products."

HomePNA membership includes more than 90 companies, spanning the
networking, telecommunications, hardware, software and consumer
electronics industries. As a participating member in HomePNA, Bell
Atlantic will contribute to the development of the high-speed home
network of the future.

"HomePNA is pleased to add Bell Atlantic to our growing number
of member companies," said Cyrus Namazi , chairperson of
HomePNA. "Each new member brings us closer to our goal of
achieving industry standardization through widespread deployment."

HomePNA was established in June 1998 to ensure adoption of a single,
unified phone line networking industry standard and to rapidly bring to
market a range of interoperable home networking solutions using high-
bandwidth. HomePNA compatible products connect multiple PCs,
printers, fax machines and scanners using existing phone lines. There is no
wiring back to a central hub, such as in a corporate computer network, and
the user can simultaneously access the Internet and make phone calls on
the same line.

"Our Infospeed DSL customers have told us they want to use home
networking and as our deployment expands this year, we want to ensure
that we can support this need for our high-speed Internet access customers
throughout our Maine to Virginia service area," said McIntosh.

Infospeed DSL is Bell Atlantic's brand name for ADSL, or Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line technology, which provides Internet access to
consumers at speeds up to 126 times faster than that afforded by a 56
kilobits per second (Kbps) modem. The digital high-speed service
provides an "always-on" link to the global Internet. By taking
advantage of unused capacity available in existing telephone lines, the
technology allows consumers to use a single phone line to send faxes or
make phone calls while they're surfing the Internet.

The service is now available in parts of Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh,
northern New Jersey and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The
service will be available in July in New York City and in additional
communities this summer and fall. Bell Atlantic will deploy Infospeed
DSL in areas serving 8 million households by the end of 1999 and 16
million by the end of 2000.

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance is an incorporated, non-profit
association of industry-leading companies working together to help ensure
adoption of a single, unified phoneline networking industry standard and
rapidly bring to market a range of interoperable home networking
solutions.

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.