NYNEX and Bell Atlantic introduce premier data service between New York City and New Jersey

NEW YORK, NY -- NYNEX and Bell Atlantic today (10/11) announced plans for a joint service arrangement to provide customers with high-speed data links between New York City and New Jersey beginning in early 1996.

The NYNEX/Bell Atlantic Frame Relay Corridor Service will make it possible for businesses in New York City and five counties in northern New Jersey -- Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union -- to exchange information at high speeds.

The technology that will enable the new offering is Frame Relay Service, a fast-packet data network service that provides secure, high-capacity connections across a wide area network.

The flexibility and high-speed capability of the new offering will support information-intensive applications like technical and graphical imaging, remote database

access, and Ethernet and Token Ring LAN interconnection. The scope of applications includes branch banking, telecommuting, transaction processing, virtual library and university access, point-of-sale information transfer and Internet access.

According to Jim Moore, vice president-Product Management, NYNEX Business Network Solutions, the arrangement will make a significant step toward launching many high-speed data services across the two states boundaries. Both companies are excited about the prospect of extending the reach of their premier data services, which previously were limited to our respective service territories. With this arrangement, customers will begin to see the potential of linking multiple sites across New York and New Jersey, as if they were part of a single high-speed wide area network.

Artificial barriers make no sense in a world of instant global communications, said Joe Cascio, Bell Atlantic vice president-Marketing, Large Business Services. This arrangement is just one example of the advanced technology Bell Atlantic and NYNEX are committed to introduce to eliminate those barriers for our customers.

The two companies have been working for several months to resolve many of the technical and operational requirements to make Frame Relay Corridor Service commercially available. Negotiations between Bell Atlantic and NYNEX on operations agreements and the specific Frame Relay services and features of the initial product offering have been completed. Facilities between the two carriers networks have been constructed and technical interoperability testing has been completed. Tariffs will be filed by Bell Atlantic and NYNEX with the Federal Communications Commission for service in New Jersey and New York City, in the near future, with planned commercial availability in early 1996.

The announcement was made today as part of the announcement of NYNEXs Impower vision, a blueprint for how the NYNEX network will serve the needs of the business market.

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.

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.