Bell Atlantic Mobile And Crisis Center North Launch Wireless Phone Recycling Drive

Bell Atlantic Mobile And Crisis Center North Launch Wireless Phone Recycling Drive

Older Model Phones Being Collected to Improve Safety of Domestic
Violence Victims

September 2, 1999

PITTSBURGH, PA -- Crisis Center North and Bell Atlantic Mobile today
launched a program aimed at putting old and unused wireless phones to
work for the good of the community. The company's Phone Recycling
Program will allow customers in the Pittsburgh area to recycle their older
model wireless phones by donating their equipment to Crisis Center North
to benefit victims of domestic violence.

"These phones will provide a critical link to safety for the women
and children we serve," explained Grace Coleman, executive
director of Crisis Center North. "We are thrilled to work with Bell
Atlantic Mobile and are very pleased that Pennsylvania State Senator
Melissa Hart has offered her district offices as collection points where
residents can drop off the equipment. UPMC Passavant Hospital will also
collect at the reception desk in the main lobby."

Donated phones must be portable models and include batteries and
chargers. Phones, batteries and chargers must be placed in zip-lock bags
before drop-off.

Bell Atlantic Mobile will test and reprogram the recycled phones to dial
9-1-1 and return the phones to Crisis Center North so they can be given to
the women who are at risk.

"The evolution of wireless phones from analog to digital and the
appeal of newer, smaller handsets, have produced a large supply of old,
unused equipment sitting in desks, cabinets and even toy boxes throughout
the area," said Roger Tang, regional vice president of Bell Atlantic
Mobile in Pittsburgh. "Our objective is to reclaim those phones and
put them into the hands of people who need emergency
communications."

Senator Melissa Hart praised the program and invites constituents to drop
off unused cellular phones at her district offices during September.
"Providing women with full-time, ready access to 9-1-1 assistance
will make it easier for them to escape their abusers, and could save lives. I
encourage everyone with an unused cell phone to stop in and drop it
off," she said.

Senator Hart's district offices are located at 3380 Babcock Boulevard,
Pittsburgh; Town Hall Center, 2400 Leechburg Road, New Kensington;
and the Cranberry Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road, Cranberry
Township.

UPMC Passavant Hospital is located at 9100 Babcock Boulevard.

The Washington Women's Shelter in Washington, Pennsylvania, began a
similar phone recycling drive this summer. Their campaign will continue
throughout September. Equipment can be dropped off at the Shelter's
administrative offices, 624 Washington Trust Building, 6 South Main
Street, Washington, Pennsylvania.

The donated phones will be reprogrammed and returned to the shelters in
October as part of Bell Atlantic Mobile's support of Domestic Violence
Awareness Month.

Additional information about the individual phone recycling drives can be
obtained by contacting Crisis Center North (Grace Coleman) at 412-364-
6728 or the Washington Women's Shelter (Michelle Robinson-Ritter) at
724-223-5481.

Editor's Note: In the Pittsburgh Region, Bell Atlantic Mobile was named
the leader in overall customer satisfaction among wireless users, according
to the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates 1998 U.S. Wireless
Customers Satisfaction Study. Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the
largest wireless network in the East and systems in the Southwest,
covering 180,000 square miles, and the largest chain of retail outlets
devoted exclusively to wireless voice, data, and paging. Based in
Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic Mobile has 6.6 million customers and 8,000
employees from Maine to Georgia and in parts of Arizona, New Mexico
and west Texas. Through its "Wireless at Work..."
community service program, the company uses its technology to help
individuals and communities improve security and emergency
communications. Bell Atlantic Mobile's parent, Bell Atlantic Corporation
(NYSE:BEL) is one of the world's largest wireless communications
companies, with domestic operations in 25 states and international
investments in Mexico, Europe and the Pacific Rim. For more
information on Bell Atlantic Mobile visit: www.bam.com; on global
operations visit: www.bellatlantic.com/worldwide.