With Technology Advances and Community Partnerships Bell Atlantic - Led More Consumers Into the Information age in 1996

With Technology Advances and Community Partnerships Bell Atlantic - Led
More Consumers Into the Information Age in 1996

by John Bragg, Director of External Affairs, Bell Atlantic

January 23, 1997

One year ago, Bell Atlantic promised to find more ways to meet the
needs of customers who wanted more than "plain old telephone
service."

Assisted by the growth of computer technology, the Internet and
historic changes in federal telecommunications regulation, Bell
Atlantic delivered on its promise in 1996 by introducing a wide array
of services to make life easier and more productive for its customers.

For example, Bell Atlantic introduced affordable packages for
residential ISDN (integrated
services digital network) lines to give
customers high-speed connections from home to cyberspace. It launched
an easy-to-use Internet access service while enhancing and expanding
its own World Wide Web page.

The company added value to its popular Caller ID
service by providing
the customer with additional information on incoming calls. The
company also added new features to its voice mail services to give
customers more flexibility.

In other 1996 advances:

• Bell Atlantic negotiated agreements that will allow competitors to
  use parts of the company's network to provide local telephone
  service.

• Soon after the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law,
  Bell Atlantic became the first regional Bell operating company to
  offer long-distance service outside its service area. In 1997,
  Bell Atlantic will ask the Federal Communications Commission for
  permission to offer long-distance service within the company's own
  service territory.

• The company introduced Easy Voice, a voice-activated
  dialing
  service; Call
  Gate, a service which allows customers to control
  calls made from their phones; and Talking Return
  Call, which
  provides the phone number of the last person that called along
  with the ability to automatically return that call.

• Bell Atlantic confirmed its commitment to the communities it serves
  by contributing millions to initiatives to wire schools and
  libraries to the information superhighway.

In addition, Bell
Atlantic announced it would merge with NYNEX, the
regional Bell company serving New York and New England. The new Bell
Atlantic will accelerate telecommunications competition, and customers
will benefit from greater choice, lower prices and better and more
innovative services.

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