NYNEX Sending New Area Code Maps to 3.5 Million Customers

August 4, 1997 

CONTACT: CONTACT:  Joseph Zukowski
of NYNEX Boston, 617-743-1278, or outside Boston,call local NYNEX
media representative

NYNEX Sending New Area Code Maps to 3.5 Million Customers 

New Area Codes, Dialing Instructions Debut in Less Than a Month

Customers needing more area code information click here
or call 1-800-203-7967  

BOSTON -- Starting tomorrow, NYNEX (NYSE: NYN) will begin mailing to more
than 3.5 million customers in Massachusetts detailed information on new area codes,
including maps, a list of communities by area code, and new dialing patterns that
take effect Sept. 1.  The detailed area code information is included with the
August bills.

Even customers who will keep their existing area codes will have to dial some
calls differently.  A statewide three-month permissive dialing period starting
September 1 will let customers dial calls using the old or new dialing patterns. 

Under an order issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
in May, local calls to a different area code will no longer require dialing 1 first
-- they'll be dialed using just the area code and the 7-digit number.  Toll
calls to all area codes will continue to require 11-digit dialing.

Those exchanges which can be reached with a local call are listed in the front
of each NYNEX white pages directory. The new area codes will not change telephone
service rates, nor will they change the definition of local and toll calls. 
A local call will still be a local call; a toll call will still be a toll call.

Here is how calls are placed today, and how dialing for some calls will change
September 1:

The two new area codes -- 781 and 978 -- will help keep pace with consumer

demand for voice lines, fax machines, computers, pagers, and cellular phones,
as well as demand for telephone exchanges from new companies providing local telephone
services in Massachusetts.

The existing 617 and 508 area codes will split and half of the customers in Eastern
Massachusetts will change the area code portion of their phone numbers.

In order to keep in touch with business associates, friends and relatives, consumers
may need to reprogram speed dialing features on telephones, fax machines, and computer
modems with the new area codes. (TIP: Help callers remember your area code -- add
it to the greeting message on your voice mail or answering machine.)

On December 1, 1997 NYNEX will begin converting its switching centers across
Eastern Massachusetts to accept only the new area codes and dialing pattern. 
After each local switch is converted, calls cannot be completed without the correct
area code or dialing pattern. Callers will hear announcements instructing them how
to redial.

The latest information can also be found on the web site www.nynex.com/areacode.
For customers who still have questions or need further information, NYNEX today opened
a toll-free hotline at 1-800-203-7967 (8 AM to 8 PM, Mon.-Sat.) to answer questions
about the changes.

New Massachusetts Area Codes

Communities remaining in 617
Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Newton, Milton,
Quincy, Somerville, Watertown, Winthrop

Communities remaining in 508
Ascushnet, Ashland, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Barnstable, Bellingham,
Berkley, Blackstone, Bourne, Boylston, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brockton, Brookfield,
Carver, Charlton, Chatham, Chilmark, Dartmouth, Dennis, Dighton, Douglas, Dover,
Dudley, E. Bridgewater, E. Brookfield, Eastham, Easton, Edgartown, Fairhaven, Fall
River, Falmouth, Foxboro, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gay Head, Gosnold, Grafton,
Harwich, Holden, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Leicester, Lakeville, Mansfield,
Marion, Marlborough, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Medfield, Medway, Mendon, Middleborough,
Millbury, Milford, Millis, Millville, Nantucket, Natick, New Bedford, New Braintree,
Norfolk, N. Attleboro, Northborough, Northbridge, N. Brookfield, Norton, Oak Bluffs,
Oakham, Orleans, Oxford, Paxton, Plainville, Plymouth, Provincetown, Raynham, Rehoboth,
Rochester, Rutland, Sandwich, Seekonk, Sherborn, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Southbridge,
Somerset, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Tisbury, Truro, Upton, Uxbridge,
Walpole, Wareham, Wayland, Webster, Wellfleet, Westborough, W. Boylston, W. Bridgewater,
W. Brookfield, Westport, W.Tisbury, Worcester, Wrentham, Yarmouth

Communities in 978
Acton, Amesbury, Andover, Ashburnham, Ashby, Athol, Ayer, Barre, Berlin,
Beverly, Billerica, Bolton, Boxborough, Boxford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Clinton, Concord,
Danvers, Dracut, Dunstable, Essex, Fitchburg, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groton,
Groveland, Hamilton, Harvard, Haverhill, Hubbardston, Hudson, Ipswich, Lancaster,
Lawrence, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Lunenburg, Manchester, Maynard, Merrimac,
Methuen, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, New Salem, N. Andover, N. Reading, Orange,
Peabody,
Pepperell, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Rockport, Rowley, Royalston, Salem,
Salisbury, Shirley, Sterling, Stow, Sudbury, Templeton, Tewksbury, Topsfield, Townsend,
Tyngsboro, Warwick, Wendell, Wenham, Westford, Westminster, W. Newbury, Wilmington,
Winchendon.

Communities in 781
Abington, Arlington, Bedford, Braintree, Burlington, Canton, Cohasset,
Dedham, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Kingston, Lexington,
Lincoln, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Marblehead, Marshfield, Medford, Melrose, Nahant,
Needham, Norwell, Norwood, Pembroke, Plympton, Randolph, Reading, Revere, Rockland,
Saugus, Scituate, Sharon, Stoneham, Stoughton, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, 
Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, Weymouth, Whitman, Winchester, Woburn

 
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