ICI Agrees to Connect Network With All Bell Atlantic Phone Companies

ICI Agrees to Connect Network With All Bell Atlantic Phone Companies

First Pact in West Virginia

February 26, 1997

ARLINGTON, Va. - Tampa-based Intermedia Communications
Inc. (ICI) and
Bell Atlantic announced today they have reached agreements to connect
their networks throughout the mid-Atlantic states.

This marks the first time a competing carrier has signed such pacts
with all seven Bell Atlantic phone companies. It also marks the first
time a carrier has reached a comprehensive interconnection agreement
with Bell Atlantic-West
Virginia.

To date, Bell Atlantic has 38 interconnection agreements and more are
on the way.

The agreements with ICI are with Bell Atlantic's operating companies
in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West
Virginia and the District of Columbia. ICI is the 10th company to
sign pacts with Bell Atlantic that spell out the terms for
interconnecting their networks.

"These agreements are testimony to the intense competition we face
today. Any question of whether or when competitors will enter Bell
Atlantic's local exchange markets has been clearly answered by the
growing number of these agreements and by the actions of several
competing carriers who are providing service in our region today,"
said Pat
Hanley, president of Bell Atlantic Carrier Services.

The agreements with ICI, which take effect immediately, outline in
detail such things as how the two companies will compensate each other
for completing the other's calls; publishing of directory listings,
and how customers will take their phone number with them as they
switch from one phone company to another.

In addition to ICI, Bell Atlantic currently has comprehensive
interconnection agreements with: Commonwealth Communications; Cox
Communications; C-TEC and its affiliates; Eastern TeleLogic; Hyperion
and its affiliates; Jones Communications; MFS; Teleport Communications
Group; WinStar.

Bell Atlantic also has filed statements of "generally available
terms
and conditions" with each of its seven state regulatory
commissions.
These documents describe how competing companies will be able to buy
services under an "off-the-shelf" agreement, without having to
negotiate individualized terms.

Under the terms of the Telecommunications Act, Bell Atlantic may seek
permission to enter the long-distance business in its service area
when it meets a 14-point checklist. Hanley said he expects the
company will do so in the next several months.

Bell Atlantic Corp. (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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