Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions Offers 99.9% Uptime Guarantee to Businesses Purchasing High-Speed Dedicated Access or Web Hosting

Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions Offers 99.9% Uptime Guarantee to Businesses Purchasing High-Speed Dedicated Access or Web Hosting

February 24, 1998

RESTON, Va. -- Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions customers now have
service-level guarantees for dedicated Internet access and Web hosting
services, the company announced today. The service level guarantees
are consistent with the over-all corporate drive to deliver a high
standard of customer care with every Bell Atlantic product and
service.

Dedicated access customers are guaranteed 99.9 percent availability of
Internet services from the customer's location to the Internet Network
Access Point (NAP). The uptime guarantee includes BAIS' Internet
services and the Bell Atlantic local circuits it has ordered on behalf
of customers, a move that is quite rare in the Internet industry. Web
hosting customers are guaranteed 99.9 percent availability of both the
hosting server and all connections through to the NAP.

"Bell Atlantic's customers use our Internet services increasingly for
mission-critical applications," said Myles Mendelsohn - vice
president, Service Delivery for Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions.
"They are looking for reliable, stable services on which they can base
their operations. We're staffed by seasoned Internet professionals
and backed by a company with more than a century of experience in
delivering network services. That means Bell Atlantic Internet
Solutions has the foundation, commitment and resources needed to
deliver the service our business clients demand."

Bell Atlantic's dedicated access and Web hosting service level
guarantees are built on a robust network infrastructure that is
monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week and leverage
state-of-the-art Internet data center facilities. The company's
Network Operations staff works full-time to monitor servers, Web
sites, power systems, routers and other network devices to ensure
service quality.

Bell Atlantic's service level guarantees are provided to all customers
with a contract of one year or more and with an account in good
standing. For more details, customers can visit Bell Atlantic's Web
site at www.bellatlantic.net or they can call1 (800) 252-8444.

Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions, Inc., is the unit of Bell Atlantic
Corp. that delivers a full range of Internet services to businesses,
governments and consumers - from Internet access to electronic mail to
World Wide Web site production and hosting.

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.

Service Level Guarantee Fact Sheet:

What is BAIS' Service Level Guarantee?

BAIS offers a Service Level Guarantee program to its dedicated access
and Web hosting customers that is comprised of two elements: 1) BAIS
guarantees on Internet services and on Bell Atlantic local loop
services ordered by BAIS on the customer's behalf, and 2) GSP service
guarantees. Under the SLG program, BAIS provides uptime guarantees
for its Internet services and the local loop circuits it has ordered,
and it administers a global service provider (GSP) guarantee that
mirrors BAIS' own Service Level Guarantee.

Bell Atlantic's SLG program for dedicated access customers states:
"Eligible Customers will receive one day's service credit -- 1/30 of
their total monthly bill -- for an outage of their BAIS dedicated
Internet service that exceeds 30 continuous minutes in duration for
each 24 hour period."

Bell Atlantic's SLG program for Web hosting customers states:
"Eligible Customers will receive one day's service credit -- 1/30 of
their standard monthly hosting fee -- for an outage of their BAIS Web
hosting service that exceeds 30 continuous minutes in duration for
each 24-hour period."

What does the SLG program cover?

The SLG program for Web hosting extends from the customer's Web server
to the Internet. This includes the BAIS Web server farm LAN (local
area network), the HTTP process (Web server hardware and software),
Internet connectivity from the BAIS hosting data center, local
telecommunications circuits, and GSP (global service provider)
connectivity to the Internet.

The SLG program for dedicated access extends from the customer/carrier
point of demarcation at the customer's premises to the Internet. This
includes local telecommunications circuits, TCP/IP routing by BAIS and
GSP connectivity to the Internet.

What's the definition of an "outage"?

A Web hosting outage is defined as unscheduled unavailability of a
customer's content served by the HTTP process (Web server hardware and
software) for a duration greater than 30 continuous minutes in any
24-hour period.

A dedicated access outage is defined as unscheduled unavailability of
a direct connection to the Internet for a duration greater than 30
continuous minutes in any 24-hour period.

Who qualifies for this policy?

Bell Atlantic Internet Solution customers with BAIS Dedicated Access
and/or Web hosting services with a contract length of one year or
greater and an account in good standing. Customers with month-to-month
contracts are not eligible for SLG service credits, nor are customers
with outage situations created by the customer or third parties.