Bell Atlantic Mobile Donates Wireless Technology To Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council

Bell Atlantic Mobile Donates Wireless Technology To Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council

October 1, 1997

Delaware are one step closer to leading safer and more productive

lives due to a wireless technology donation by Bell Atlantic Mobile.

At a press conference recognizing October as "Domestic Violence

Awareness Month," Robert F. Stott, regional president of Bell Atlantic

Mobile, donated 40 voice mail boxes and 20 cellular phones

pre-programmed with a 9-1-1 emergency number to the Delaware Domestic

Violence Coordinating Council.

"Bell Atlantic Mobile is committed to helping domestic violence

victims change their situations and to lead productive and safe

lives," said Stott. "Our wireless products - such as voice mail

service and phones - provides women with the vital link they need in

order to communicate effectively and discreetly, and to seek immediate

help if in danger."

"Through Bell Atlantic Mobile's generous donation, domestic violence

victims now have expanded resources to help protect them while giving

them an opportunity to change their situations for the better," said

Raina Fishbane, executive director of the Domestic Violence

Coordinating Council.

The voice mail boxes will serve as a communication tool in which women

can discreetly and independently receive personal messages from

counselors, potential employers, or family members.

This past year, through Bell Atlantic Mobile's "HopeLine" charitable

initiative, more than 4,400 individuals, including domestic violence

victims, received free voice mail service. By using the free service,

hundreds of people were able to secure jobs and housing, and seek

counseling .

Through Bell Atlantic Mobile's wireless phone donation, women will be

able to get immediate help, in case of an emergency. "We've found that

victims of domestic violence are vulnerable to threatening situations

just about anywhere - in their car, on the streets and even in their

own homes," said Stott. "By simply pressing one speed dial number,

women will have a direct link to the police and hopefully, an added

sense of security."

Bell Atlantic Mobile is the largest wireless service provider on the

East Coast and the second largest in the United States. The company

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, NJ, Bell

Atlantic Mobile has 5 million customers and 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.