Bell Atlantic Gives Carriers

Bell Atlantic Gives Carriers "Gateway" for Call Signaling

CCS Gateway Service Gives Bell Atlantic Competitive Edge

March 19 , 1998

NEW YORK -- A new Bell Atlantic service unveiled today will improve
the company's competitive position, while also making it easier for
interexchange carriers to use Bell Atlantic's Signaling System 7 (SS7)
services. Interexchange carriers that need SS7 services will now have
a money-saving alternative.

SS7, also known as common channel signaling, allows carriers to
exchange signaling information associated with call set-up and
completion. For example, when a customer dials a long distance
telephone number, SS7 directs the call to the right long distance
company.

"Carriers signing up for the CCS Gateway Service will find it easier to
access SS7 and more importantly, because they'll need fewer ports, it
will save them money," said Joe Morice, Bell Atlantic' s product
manager for SS7 access.

Common Carrier Signaling (CCS) Gateway Service is a direct outgrowth
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which permits Bell Atlantic's
local telephone companies to provide some signaling services across
LATA (local access transport area) or regional calling area
boundaries. Bell Atlantic still may not offer voice or data services
beyond regional calling areas until the Federal Communications
Commission agrees that its local markets are open to competition.

In the past, if a long distance company wanted to use Bell Atlantic's
SS7 services, it had to have a presence in each of Bell Atlantic's
regional calling areas it wished to serve. Bell Atlantic was
prohibited from carrying signaling information between these LATAs.

CCS Gateway Service initially will offer five locations where carriers
can link to Bell Atlantic's SS7 network. When connected to all five
of these gateway points, carriers will have access to nearly all of
Bell Atlantic's LATAs in the mid-Atlantic states. CCS Gateway Service
is expected to be available in New York and New England by the end of
the year.

Tim Stevens, director of Bell Atlantic Carrier Service's New Product
Group, said CCS Gateway Service is "yet another example of our
strategy to use new technology to help our carrier customers improve
their businesses."

Bell Atlantic - formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX -
is at the forefront of the new communications and information
industry. With 40.5 million telephone access lines and six 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.