Bell Atlantic Triples Availability of Infospeed DSL Service in Massachusetts

Bell Atlantic Triples Availability of Infospeed^sm DSL Service in Massachusetts

Two Million Customer Lines Can Now Obtain High-Speed Internet Link

March 13, 2000

BOSTON - Nearly two million phone lines serving Massachusetts residents and businesses are now eligible for Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL service, a high-speed connection to the Internet.

Bell Atlantic-Massachusetts today announced it has tripled the number of its switching offices in Massachusetts equipped to offer the direct link to the Internet -- from 43 offices in the Greater Boston area in October 1999 to a total of 141 offices throughout the Commonwealth.

With Infospeed DSL, you have a dedicated line to the Internet. Once you are connected, you can stay on as long as you want -- there's no re-dialing and no busy signals. With one click of the mouse, you're there.

"Our Infospeed DSL package includes fast, unlimited access to the Internet; Bell Atlantic's own Internet service, and the ability to use the same phone line to talk or fax while you're online," Amy McIntosh, president and CEO, Bell Atlantic Network Data. "And Infospeed provides your own dedicated connection, so you don't have to worry that your access will slow down as cable modem service can because your neighbors are online using the same service."

"Bell Atlantic is investing over $700 million a year in our network in Massachusetts so that it can support exciting new technologies like DSL," said Robert Mudge, vice president of Bell Atlantic-Massachusetts. "Customers from the Berkshires to Cape Cod will be delighted with this new service."

Customers can determine whether Infospeed DSL is available to them and order the service on the Bell Atlantic Web site at http://www.bellatlantic.com/infospeed or by calling 877-525-2375. (See list of DSL-equipped switching offices attached.) Additional information about Infospeed DSL packages for small businesses is available at http://www.bellatlantic.com/smallbiz.

Infospeed DSL is Bell Atlantic's brand name for DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line technology, which provides Internet access at connection speeds up to 7.1 Mbps or up to 126 times faster than a traditional 56 Kbps (kilobits per second) modem, depending on the Infospeed package selected.

The connection speed is the rate at which customers connect to the DSL network and is faster than the actual speed of data transfer, also known as the throughput rate. The throughput rate varies based on a number of factors including Internet congestion, proximity to the phone company central office, modem configuration and other factors not controlled by the company.

By taking advantage of unused capacity on existing telephone lines, DSL technology allows consumers to use a single phone line to send a fax or make phone calls while simultaneously surfing the Web for news, weather or the latest stock quotes.

Infospeed Packages Offer Tremendous Value

At $49.95 a month, Bell Atlantic's entry-level Personal Infospeed package for consumers features connection speeds up to 640 kilobits per second (Kbps) with unlimited use. Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Personal Plus, the company's entry-level package for businesses, is priced at $64.95, with connection speeds up to 640 Kbps for unlimited use.

Consumers and business customers who want even faster connections have two other options:

• Bell Atlantic Professional Infospeed for consumers at $99.95 a month or Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Professional Plus for businesses at $114.95, feature connection speeds up to 1.6 megabits per second (Mbps).

• Bell Atlantic Power Infospeed for consumers at $189.95 or Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Power Plus at $204.95 a month, offer connection speeds up to 7.1 Mbps.

All Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL packages for consumers include BellAtlantic.net Internet access and a link to a special version of the Snap portal service customized for Bell Atlantic's high-speed users.

In addition, Bell Atlantic Infospeed DSL Plus packages offer business customers up to six mailboxes, sized to meet business needs at 20 megabytes each, and five megabytes of Web page space.

Getting started costs customers only $99 -- the price of the DSL modem

Quick Start Installation Kit

After a customer places an order, Bell Atlantic will equip their line with DSL. At the same time, the company will ship them a DSL modem and a Quick Start Guide with instructions on how to complete the installation themselves. Customers will receive everything they need to connect to the Internet using Bell Atlantic's Infospeed DSL service.

The kit includes:

• DSL modem
• 6 desk and 2 wall micro-filters
• 2-line adapter
• cable for the modem
• Bell Atlantic.net^sm software
• Infospeed DSL user guide
• Quick Start Installation instructions

The Quick Start installation is available to customers who sign up for Personal or Professional Infospeed and generally no technician visit is required. A visit from a Bell Atlantic technician is required under certain circumstances for Personal Infospeed (when a customer has a home alarm monitoring service, for example), when consumers subscribe to Power Infospeed and for all businesses that subscribe to Infospeed DSL.

After installation is completed, technical support is available to all Infospeed DSL customers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Finally, the service comes with a customer-care, money-back guarantee for all charges if a customer decides not to continue service within 30 days of installation.

Infospeed DSL also is available in parts of the New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond and Hampton Roads, Va., metropolitan areas and in parts of New Jersey. Bell Atlantic will add more markets in coming months as part of its plan to make 21 million residential and business lines DSL-capable throughout its Northeast service area by the end of the first quarter.

Click here for a listing of Massachusetts exchanges offering Infospeed^sm DSL Service.

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Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information industry. With nearly 44 million telephone access lines and 12 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.