NYNEX, Responding to Customers, Will Replace Change Card Pay Phones With Coin-Operated Version

February 5, 1997

CONTACT: Steve Marcus 212-395-0500

NYNEX, Responding to Customers, Will Replace Change Card Pay Phones With Coin-Operated Version

NYNEX announced today (2/7) that it will remove its

bright yellow Change Card pay phones -- which only accept a

special, prepaid telephone card -- and replace the majority

of them with a state-of-the-art version of the traditional,

coin-operated pay phone.

Most of the 800 Change Card phones are situated in

Manhattan on city sidewalks.

The others are at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal

and at several other indoor and outdoor locations. NYNEX

will begin the replacement program next week.

"Although we conducted a variety of marketing and

advertising campaigns to inform the public about the NYNEX

Change Card (R) phones and to encourage their use, these

phones just never caught on with our customers," said Brian

Price, director of marketing and sales for NYNEXs Public

Communications Division.

"New Yorkers are used to carrying coins with them for

parking meters, the laundromat and bus fare," he said. "And

we learned that when it comes to making a local call from a

NYNEX pay phone, people prefer to use coins rather than the

specialized Change Card product, which only worked on the

special yellow phones."

NYNEX will replace the Change Card phones that are on

city sidewalks with a new type of coin-operated phone that

looks and works like the traditional, coin-operated phone

but is much more technologically advanced. The new phones,

known as "smart sets," contain a computer chip that

automatically sends out a signal to a central NYNEX location

when the phone is not working or needs servicing.

In addition to the Change Card phones, NYNEX will

replace all of its other city sidewalk pay phones with

"smart sets" this year.

"By knowing automatically when there is a problem

with one of our smart sets, we can dispatch a technician

right away and get the phone back in service more quickly,"

Price said. "This will enable us to provide better service

to the public."

The balance of the Change Card phones will be

replaced by the traditional, coin-operated pay phones.

NYNEX will provide full refunds to consumers who have

the NYNEX Change Cards. The cards, about the size of a

credit card, were sold in denominations of $5, $10 and $20.

Holders of valid Change Cards in good condition may

obtain refunds for the unused portion of the cards by going

in person to any one of five refund vendors in Manhattan,

Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. NYNEX will also

maintain a toll-free number -- 1-800-545-EASY -- for

customers who wish to obtain refunds by mail or who have

questions about the refunds or other aspects of the Change

Card phones.

NYNEX will inform customers about the refunds and the

toll-free number by posting signs at the major locations for

Change Card phones and through legal notices in daily

newspapers in New York City.

NYNEX installed the Change Card phones on a trial

basis in 1991 and then expanded the program in 1994.

Although the Change Card program is being

discontinued, NYNEX remains committed to its other telephone

card products. They are the NYNEX Calling Card

(1-800-54-NYNEX), which customers use and then receive the

itemized charges on their monthly telephone bill, and the

NYNEX prepaid calling card, which customers use by calling

another 800 number. Both cards can be used at any telephone

for local as well as long distance calls.

The following vendors will provide refunds for change

cards: EGI Check Cashing, 106 Greenwich St.; NY Check

Cashing, 20 Beaver St.; Cataldo Newsstand, 360 Adams St.,

Brooklyn; I & R Payment Center, 416 East 149th St.,

Bronx; MTW Check Cashing, 202 Bay St., Staten Island.

NYNEX is a global communications and media

corporation that provides a full range of services in the

northeastern United States and high-growth markets around

the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand,

Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland,

Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The corporation is a leader

in telecommunications, wireless communications, directory

publishing and video entertainment and information services.

NYNEX is also managing sponsor of FLAG -- Fiberoptic Link

Around the Globe -- the world's longest undersea fiber optic

communications cable.

FAX copies of recent NYNEX news releases are

available free of charge, 24 hours a day. Call

1-800-331-1214 and an automated system will provide

instructions.