Most Advanced Digital Wireless Phone Service Available For The First Time In Fairfield And New Haven Counties

WALLINGFORD, CN — Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile announced today that it has launched the first digital wireless phone service to the Southern Connecticut area, including Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

The new service, called DigitalChoiceSM, delivers improved call clarity and gives customers the ability to answer pages, receive voice mail and identify the number of the incoming call, all while providing extended battery life and better security. And, customers can use the new 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.

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile provided the state's first wireless digital service to the Greater Hartford area in May. The company leads the industry in deploying the area's first Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) service. This 'next generation' wireless technology also provides enhanced service features, and operates on the most extensive, integrated network on the East Coast.

"The best way to measure interest in this new technology is through sales, and since launching DigitalChoiceSM in our other markets, consumers have responded favorably," said Jack Plating, president of the Northeast Region of Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile. "As for the product, the sound quality of our digital network is so good that people won't believe they're on a cellular phone. Customers have the best of both worlds and can use our digital service in our markets, including New York City, and then hop on a plane or drive outside our East Coast service area and use the phones' analog capability anywhere in the country."

With Bell Atlantic digital service available in Boston, Hartford, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington markets, the company has the largest digital coverage area on the East Coast.

Price plans for DigitalChoice begin at $19.99 a month for access. There is no activation fee. Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile is selling handheld digital phones at its Communications Stores throughout Connecticut on sale in August starting at $189, or $139 with a cellular/PCS phone trade-in. For more information, call 1-800-255-BELL..

While on the digital network, DigitalChoice service provides customers with:

• free first minute of airtime on incoming calls within the home airtime rate area which includes: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, depending on rate plan selected
• 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

Consumers are invited to preview the service this week (August 5-11) at the following Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Communications Store locations -- in Fairfield County: Norwalk, Fairfield, and Stamford; -- in New Haven County: North Haven and Orange, where they can make a free DigitalChoice call to anyone in the continental United States.

DigitalChoice is already available in metro New York/New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington/Baltimore, Charlotte and Spartanburg, NC, and Columbia and Greenville, SC.

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 4.9 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. For comments, please contact Mr. Lowenstein at (617) 956-5000. For a demonstration of the service and/or for an interview with a Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile spokesperson, please contact Lynn Luczkowski at (203) 393-1101.

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