Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics, Bringing Advanced Technology, Services to State College-Boalsburg Area

Bell Atlantic Deploys Fiber Optics,
Bringing Advanced Technology, Services
to State College-Boalsburg Area

Company Invests $158,000 to Expand, Upgrade
Local Telephone Network

May 4, 1999

STATE COLLEGE, Pa -- Bell Atlantic is installing a new fiber-optic
cable between the company's telephone offices in State College and
Boalsburg as part of a $158,000 project to upgrade the local telephone
network and provide advanced telecommunications services to its
customers.

A new cable containing 144 fibers will run along Route 322 for about four
miles between State College and Boalsburg. Construction is expected to
be completed in early June.

This new technology will allow Bell Atlantic to expand its ability to offer
advanced high-speed data services to local public schools and health care
facilities and provides additional reliability and survivability in the Bell
Atlantic network. Fiber-optic systems use hair-thin glass fibers and digital
technology to deliver high quality telephone service along with high-
capacity/high-speed voice and data transmission services.

"This project is the latest evidence that Bell Atlantic is meeting our
commitment to deliver a state-of-the-art telecommunications network
throughout Pennsylvania," said Daniel J. Whelan, president of Bell
Atlantic - Pennsylvania. "We are accelerating our construction
schedules to provide rural and urban customers with high-speed access to
the Internet, work-at-home capabilities, as well as a host of other
innovative advanced services."

Whelan said Bell Atlantic has made major strides in deploying advanced
technology in its network:

• Annual spending on the Pennsylvania network nearly doubled from
  $539 million in 1995 to more than $961 million in 1998.

• Miles of fiber-optic cable in the commonwealth increased
  by 66 percent from 474,450 in 1995 to 786,106 at the end of 1998.

• Percentage of digital call-routing switches has grown from
  90.3 percent in 1995 to 96 percent at the end of 1998.

• Bell Atlantic Infospeedsm DSL was launched in
  Pennsylvania last fall. Infospeed DSL is a high-speed, always-on
  Internet access services which enables consumers to connect to
  cyberspace at speeds up to 100 times faster than today's fastest
  analog modems.

"Bell Atlantic is keeping its promises to Pennsylvania,"
Whelan said. "We are building and enhancing a public
telecommunications network in Pennsylvania that is the finest in the world
and is a vital part of the commonwealth's economic infrastructure."

In addition to deploying the latest technology, Bell Atlantic has spent tens
of millions of dollars to open Pennsylvania's local telephone market to
competition.

"We have irreversibly opened our markets to competition,"
Whelan said. "We can't force the long distance giants or anyone else
to compete here, but anyone who genuinely wants to enter our markets can
do so."

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of
the new communications and information industry. With 43 million telephone
access lines and nine million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic
companies are premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.