SILVER SPRING, MD — Bell Atlantic Mobile, the largest wireless service provider on the East Coast and the second largest in the United States, has added its 5 millionth customer. The company's customer base has grown by at least 30 percent each year for the last eight years.
"I expect this phenomenal growth trend to continue," said Bell Atlantic Mobile Washington/Baltimore Regional President Gary Schulman.
"When we first started offering cellular service in 1984, phones were $3,000 and our customers primarily were well-to-do executives, doctors and lawyers," said Schulman. "Today, wireless phones and service are so affordable that people from all walks of life are enjoying the benefits of instant communication anytime, anywhere. It's a productivity tool for business people, a scheduling tool for busy families, and a life-saving link to emergency help for everyone in the community."
Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the most extensive network in the East, covering 111,000 square miles, and the largest chain of wireless retail outlets offering a full range of wireless personal communications services, including voice, data and paging. Based in Bedminster, N.J., with regional headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., Bell Atlantic Mobile has 7,000 employees in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate subsidiary, in the Southwest. The company is the chief wireless subsidiary of the new Bell Atlantic, formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX corporations.
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