NAACP & Bell Atlantic Announce Communications Alliance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 1996

NAACP, BELL ATLANTIC ANNOUNCE COMMUNICATIONS
ALLIANCE

Agreement Will Provide NAACP with Web Site,
Allow Members to Connect On-line

CHARLOTTE, NC -- The NAACP and Bell Atlantic today
announced a
communications alliance designed to bring America's oldest civil
rights organization on-line.

NAACP President and CEO Kweisi Mfume and Bell Atlantic Chairman and
CEO Ray Smith unveiled
the organization's new Internet home
page on
the World Wide Web at the organization's 87th annual national
convention here. Bell Atlantic provided expertise and funded
development of the site.

"Bell Atlantic has a long history of being a leader in the
communications business. I have been impressed with their vision,
their leadership and their assistance in helping move the NAACP into
the Information Age," Mfume said.

"We are proud to help launch into cyberspace the NAACP's struggle
to
obtain racial justice," Smith said. "By providing access to the
Internet, hosting the NAACP Web site, and furnishing the NAACP staff
with an on-line communication system, Bell Atlantic is not only
linking the NAACP's national headquarters with its far flung chapters
and membership, but with the 24 million global users of the Internet
as well."

Cyberspace -- though "neutral" like the airwaves -- is
beginning to be
occupied by cyberhate, Smith explained. "Today, Bell Atlantic levels
the digital playing field by providing the NAACP with the means to
combat cyberhate. Now it's the NAACP's turn to disseminate its
messages on the Net, to build coalitions in cyberspace, to link
chapter members through e-mail, to create virtual libraries and
sponsor electronic forums for debate," Smith said.

Bell Atlantic's Internet
Solutions unit will provide the NAACP with
access to the Internet, home page design and hosting on a Bell
Atlantic server, customer service support and an association member
services communications system that will allow NAACP headquarters to
communicate more effectively with its chapters. It will also offer
local NAACP chapters a discount onWeb site design, set-up and hosting.

The NAACP will be able to use its state-of-the-art Web site to promote
the association to the general public and to attract new members. In
addition, it will be able to use a closed, "secure" network for
internal association business. This network can be used to enhance
communications and information exchange between NAACP headquarters
and NAACP chapters. Specific services available to chapters will
include e-mail and access to discussion forums and libraries of files
that can be read and downloaded.

Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions will host the NAACP's Web site, which
was designed with Issue Dynamics Inc.,
a public affairs consulting
firm that works to build bridges between the public, consumer
interests, industry and government leaders. Application Programming &
Development Inc. (APDI), one of the nation's premier on-line system
service bureaus, will host the organization's closed network in
conjunction with Bell Atlantic.

The NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization on
Earth. Its national headquarters is located in Baltimore, Md.

Bell Atlantic Internet Solutions is a new unit of Bell Atlantic
created to develop and deliver a full range of Internet services to
businesses, governments and consumers -- from access to electronic
mail to World Wide Web site production and hosting.

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 contacts:

Bell Atlantic - Larry Plumb, (703) 708-4360
lawrence.d.plumb@bell-atl.com

NAACP - Dan Wilson, (704) 339-6276