Bell Atlantic Mobile Adds 5 Millionth Customer

Bell Atlantic Mobile Adds 5 Millionth Customer

September 11, 1997

SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 11-- Bell Atlantic Mobile, the largest

wireless service provider on the East Coast and the second largest in

the United States, has added its 5 millionth customer. The company's

customer base has grown by at least 30 percent each year for the last

eight years.

"I expect this phenomenal growth trend to continue," said Bell

Atlantic Mobile Washington/Baltimore Regional President Gary Schulman.

"When we first started offering cellular service in 1984, phones were

$3,000 and our customers primarily were well-to-do executives, doctors

and lawyers," said Schulman. "Today, wireless phones and service are

so affordable that people from all walks of life are enjoying the

benefits of instant communication anytime, anywhere. It's a

productivity tool for business people, a scheduling tool for busy

families, and a life-saving link to emergency help for everyone in the

community."

Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the most extensive network in

the East, covering 111,000 square miles, and the largest chain of

wireless retail outlets offering a full range of wireless personal

communications services, including voice, data and paging. Based in

Bedminster, N.J., with regional headquarters in Silver Spring, Md.,

Bell Atlantic Mobile has 7,000 employees in the Northeast,

mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate subsidiary, in the

Southwest. The company is the chief wireless subsidiary of the new

Bell Atlantic, formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX

corporations.