Delaware Judge Rules Bell Atlantic Can Lower Residential ISDN Rates

!-- BEGIN NR TEXT -->September 20, 1996

Delaware Judge Rules Bell Atlantic Can Lower Residential
ISDN Rates

Company Proposed Rate Reductions Pending Appeal of Rate
Decision

DOVER, De. -- A Kent County Superior Court judge has
granted Bell
Atlantic-Delaware permission to reduce rates for Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) telephone service to the home while he reviews
the company's appeal of a July 2 rate order by the Delaware Public
Service Commission (PSC).

Bell Atlantic asked Judge N. Maxson Terry to allow the company to
charge the rates it proposed April 17 to the PSC. The company's
proposal would reduce current rates by 15 to 86 percent for
residential ISDN, a service that provides high-speed access to the
Internet, on-line services and corporate computer networks.

In his ruling, Judge Terry said Bell Atlantic-Delaware may bill
customers for the following lower rates as of August 1:

20 Hours - $31
60 hours - $45
140 hours - $60
300 hours - $90
500 hours - $120
Unlimited - $248

Customers won't see the new rates on their bills right away. However,
they will receive credits for the lower rates back to Aug. 1 at a
future date.

"We are pleased by the court ruling, because customers will clearly
benefit from lower rates for residential ISDN," said Bell
Atlantic-Delaware president Joshua W. Martin III. "Our
goal has
always been to make ISDN to the home as accessible and affordable as
possible while covering the cost of providing the service."

On Aug. 9, the court stayed the PSC's order that rejected the Bell
Atlantic rate proposal and set a $28.02 flat rate for residential ISDN
service. As a result of this stay, introductory rates that were
implemented in November 1995 have remained in effect while the court
considered the company's appeal of the PSC decision.

Bell Atlantic Corporation (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.

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Media contact:

Ells Edwards 302-576-5340
ellsworth.edwards@bell-atl.com