Most Advanced Digital Wireless Phone Service Available In All Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Markets

BEDMINSTER, NJ — Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, the largest wireless carrier on the East Coast, today announced the availability of the most advanced digital wireless phone service in all its markets by launching DigitalChoiceSM in New England. Operating on Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's network - the most extensive and integrated on the East Coast - DigitalChoice delivers increased call reliability, greater voice clarity, enhanced privacy and an array of service features.

DigitalChoice enables Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile customers to make and receive calls, answer pages, receive voice mail and identify incoming callers, while the digital handsets provide extended battery life. Individuals can use the new digital phones virtually anywhere in the United States because Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile wireless service is integrated, working on both analog cellular and compatible digital networks. DigitalChoice is now available in Boston and Hartford, CT, joining Charlotte, NC, Greenville, SC, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington/Baltimore, which launched the service earlier this year.

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile leads the industry in deploying Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) service. This "next generation" wireless technology greatly reduces static and crosstalk and uses a unique noise suppression technique that improves voice quality. The service also allows for greater call capacity, making it superior to other technologies available.

There is no activation fee for DigitalChoice, and customers can sign up for monthly or one-year subscriptions. Price plans are designed to meet or beat competing digital wireless service pricing in each region. Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile sells handheld digital phones in its Communications Stores throughout the East Coast. Prices for the phones start at $199, or $149 with a cellular/PCS phone trade-in.

DigitalChoice service provides customers with:

• free caller ID -- lets you know who's calling
• free voice mail with message-waiting indicator
• dramatically increased battery life
• built-in electronic fraud protection
• free call forwarding, call waiting and three-way calling
• optional text messaging for an added monthly charge of $12.99 or operator-assisted text messaging for $24.99

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Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is the largest wireless service provider on the East Coast and the second largest in the United States. The company owns and operates the most extensive network in the east, covering 111,000 square miles, and the largest chain of wireless retail outlets offering a full range of wireless personal communications services, including voice, data and paging. Based in Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has 4.6 million customers and 6,500 employees in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate subsidiary, in the Southwest. The company was formed in July 1995, by combining the cellular operations of Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mark Lowenstein of the Yankee Group is currently using Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's CDMA DigitalChoice service in the Greater Boston area. He can be reached for comment at 617-956-5000. For a demonstration of the service and/or for an interview with a Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile spokesperson, please contact Andrea Linskey, 908-306-7845.

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