New NYNEX calling plan will provide savings for New York State residence customers

NEW YORK -- NYNEX today announced new regional calling plans that will help NYNEX residence customers in New York State save money when they make directly dialed regional calls.

Customers who opt for one of the new plans will either have the ability to make unlimited, untimed regional calls for a set monthly price or they can realize per minute savings. The plans are called Unlimited Calling Plan and Cents-Per-Minute Plan. NYNEX has about 6.7 million residence customers in New York State.

Regional calls, also known as toll calls, are those made outside a local calling area but within a regional calling area. Examples of regional calls are those from Manhattan to White Plains or Huntington, from Albany to Glens Falls, from Syracuse to Watertown, from Binghamton to Oneonta, or from Buffalo to Batavia.

With the Unlimited Calling plan, residence customers throughout the state will be able to make an unlimited number of calls each month for a set monthly charge. These calls also can be made at any time of day. The monthly charge will be set for each customer based on that customer's past calling usage. Downstate customers also will have the option of combining the unlimited regional calling plan with an unlimited local calling plan. Once a customer signs up for this plan, they will not have to worry about how often they call, the duration of the call or the time of day.

With the Cents-Per-Minute plan, residence customers will have a low per minute rate for regional calls. The plan offers the same low rates, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week. Current toll band pricing schedules and the time of day/weekend discounts are not used, so that customers don't have to wait for discount periods to make regional calls. In the upstate region, the new Cents-Per-Minute rate is nine cents per minute for the first hour of regional calling and seven cents per minute for additional minutes. Downstate, the rate is six cents per minute for the first 60 minutes and five cents per minute thereafter.

There is no charge to sign up for either plan. To enroll or to ask questions, New York State residential customers should call 1-800-682-8555, ext. 232.

In connection with the residence discount plans, NYNEX will launch a television, radio and print advertising campaign upstate this week, and downstate next week. Customers can begin enrolling in the new plans upstate today, and downstate next week.

"Our residence customers have been looking for cost-effective, simple options for making calls," said Thomas W. Caldwell, NYNEX managing director-calling services. "These plans not only do that, but they provide options to meet customers' specific calling needs.

"Along with the innovative products and technology NYNEX is introducing, calling plans such as these are part of NYNEX's overall effort to bring the best telecommunications services and prices to our customers," Caldwell added.

NYNEX also announced new regional calling plans for business customers last month. The new calling plans NYNEX is offering New York residence customers are enabled by the new regulatory environment in New York State. The plans are in effect, pending final approval by the New York Public Service Commission.

NYNEX is a global communications and media company 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 the telecommunications, wireless communications, cable television, directory publishing and entertainment and information services.