BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX MOBILE PLAYS KEY ROLE IN LARGEST CELLULAR FRAUD RING BUST IN NORTHEAST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 29, 1996

BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX MOBILE PLAYS KEY ROLE IN LARGEST
CELLULAR FRAUD RING BUST
IN NORTHEAST

Fraud Detection Software Helps Identify
Thieves

HARTFORD, Conn. - In a news conference held today in the U.S.
Attorney's office in Hartford's Federal Building, law enforcement
agents revealed that the investigation and arrests that resulted in
the largest shutdown of a cellular fraud ring in the Northeast was
aided by close cooperation and support between Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Bell Atlantic NYNEX's own Fraud Control Unit helped lead agents to the
suspects by helping identify the cellular bandits, using a proprietary
fraud detection software system, and by providing special technical
assistance.

"Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is totally committed to eradicating
cellular fraud, and cooperative efforts with law enforcement agencies
are a primary example of our dedication to this mission" said Chuck
Murphy, director of marketing, Northeast, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile.
"In 1995 alone we assisted in the arrests of more than 300 cellular
swindlers."

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's Fraud Control Unit began working with
Connecticut and federal officials on this case last March and has been
working closely with them since then.

"Our ability to work with law enforcement officials nationwide is
critical to our success," said Murphy. "We provide them with
evidence
of theft and they quickly move forward to catch criminals. Often,
cellular bandits also are engaging in other illegal activities, so the
police are putting a halt to additional crimes when they make a
cellular fraud-related arrest."

Today's press conference revealed that the cellular fraud case led to
a narcotics investigation when officers learned that a number of the
cloned phones were being used by a drug trafficker in the Greater
Hartford/New Britain area.

Murphy noted that while the damage from the fraud ring is still being
assessed, the cellular industry estimates its losses at $1.5 million
dollars a day just in the U.S.

"Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has put a dent in the problem,"
said Steve
Fleischer, general manager, corporate communications. "Our work
with
police and our PIN (Personal Identification Number) system helped
reduce cellular fraud by more than 80 percent in our markets during
1995"

In 1996, the company plans to introduce at least two new fraud
prevention technologies to fight fraud in its East Coast markets. In
the meantime, customers can take precautions to help prevent fraud,
including locking their phones, signing up for PIN code service, and
reporting stolen phones immediately.

BELL ATLANTIC NYNEX Mobile, headquartered in
Bedminster, NJ, is the largest wireless service provider on the East
Coast and the second largest provider in the United States. The
company offers a full range of wireless voice, data, and paging
communications solutions to more than three million customers in the
Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate
subsidiary, in the Southwest. The company was formed in July 1995
through the combination of Bell Atlantic Mobile's and NYNEX Mobile's
cellular operations. The new company has more than 5,000 employees.

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for more information, contact:

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile:
Andrea Linskey, 908-306-7845

Mason & Madison:
Lynn Luczkowski, 203-393-1101