Bell Atlantic Honors Capital One, Virginia Health Department

Bell Atlantic Honors Capital One, Virginia Health
Department

Winners of 1996 Excellence in Networking Award

March 27, 1997

RICHMOND, Va. - Who's got the hottest information
technology in
Virginia? Who's found ways to cut costs and stimulate productivity
while barreling through cyberspace?

Bell Atlantic suggests one need look no further than Richmond-based
Capital One Financial Corp. and the Virginia Department of Health.

The two institutions are winners of Bell Atlantic-Virginia's 1996
Excellence in Networking Award. The annual award honors Virginia
businesses and governmental institutions that have effectively
deployed information technology to improve productivity.

"Both of these institutions have harnessed the latest technologies
in
building highly sophisticated networks," said Hugh R.
Stallard,
president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - Virginia. "Both are true
visionaries in their own right. They chose to embrace emerging
technologies in an effort to lower costs and enhance productivity."

Capital One's network in Richmond is built around high-speed,
fiber-optic, SONET
(Synchronous Optical Network) rings. SONET technology provides for
100 percent survivability, in the event of a disaster. Should a
portion of the ring be damaged in any way, data and voice transmission
on the ring will reverse directions in the blink of an eye and still
get through.

The Capital One network also makes use of the very latest in transport
and switching technology call ATM
(asynchronous transfer mode). With
ATM, Capital One can send voice data and video at high speeds over the
same circuit.

To better serve their customers, Capital One must access information
from a wide variety of databases and pull that information together to
develop customer profiles. In the past, it was all done largely by
hand. Now it can be done in seconds electronically.

The Virginia Department of Health commissioned Bell Atlantic in 1994
to build a state-of-the-art network that would link local health
departments from one end of the state to the other. Working nearly
around the clock for 112 days, Bell Atlantic technicians constructed a
highly robust network that's the envy of health departments across the
country.

This network provides high-speed digital data transmission that enables
the birth of a baby in Radford, for example, to be recorded moments
later in the Health Department's Bureau of Vital Statistics in Richmond.
In the past, the only way such information could be transmitted was
either by traditional mail or fax.

With its new network, the department also can alert local health
departments around the state about new regulations and the outbreak of
any contagious diseases. Likewise, it can easily and quickly advise
all local health departments of changes in regulations.

Bell Atlantic looks at several key areas in selecting winners for its
award, including:

• Does the company or organization see the network as an
  essential part of the its business strategy?

• Has the company or organization defined the network
  architecture, and identified an effective local area network
  and wide area network?

• Has the company or organization effectively integrated and
  deployed a high-speed network?

Stallard said it was difficult picking winners for the award. "So
many businesses and governmental agencies today are seizing the
opportunity to put the latest telecommunications technology to good
use. The judge's job next year will be even tougher," he said.

Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE: BEL) is at
the forefront of the new
communications, entertainment and information industry. In the
mid-Atlantic region, the company is the premier provider of local
telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the
largest investors in the high-growth wireless communication
marketplace. Bell Atlantic also owns a substantial interest in
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing
high-growth national and international business opportunities in all
phases of the industry.

####