BAN Banco Lat.8%Pfd

RNS No 4242e
BELL ATLANTIC CORPORATION
23rd April 1998

                                                  Contact:
                                                  David Frail
                                                  212-395-7726
                                                  david.frail@BellAtlantic.com

BELL ATLANTIC STARTS 1998 WITH SOLID FIRST QUARTER

     Adjusted Net Income Rises 10.7% On Strong Business Volumes,
       Global Wireless Group Registers 33% Subscriber Growth

NEW YORK -- Bell Atlantic (NYSE:BEL) today announced adjusted first quarter
earnings per share of $1.32, 10.0 percent higher than first quarter 1997 EPS of
$1.20. All EPS figures are on a diluted basis. Adjusted net income rose 10.7
percent to $1.0 billion from $941.8 million in the first quarter of 1997.

First quarter 1998 adjusted EPS excludes $.19 per share for charges related to
merger integration and an enhanced pension offer. Reported EPS for the quarter
was $1.13 compared to $.89 in first quarter 1997. Reported net income was
$890.9 million compared to $698.2 million in first quarter 1997.

Total proportionate revenues, which include Bell Atlantic's share of its
unconsolidated wireless and international wireline businesses, increased 6.0
percent. Telecom Group revenues increased 2.4 percent, Global Wireless revenues
increased 21.1 percent and International Telecom revenues increased 57.2
percent.

"We delivered strong operating results across all three key units of our
business in a period of change and transition to a less regulated and
faster-growing communications marketplace," said Bell Atlantic Chairman and CEO
Raymond W. Smith.

"Our Telecom Group results reflected the impacts of approximately $150 million
in mandated price reductions during the quarter and $35-$40 million in costs
related to this winter's severe ice storms, as well as competitive effects and
the startup costs of creating platforms and capabilities for new services,
particularly in long distance and data markets.

"The performance of our Global Wireless unit was exemplary. Our domestic
cellular and PCS businesses demonstrated how to thrive in fully competitive
markets - with discipline and value to customers - and our international
wireless investments broke the one million-customer mark and continued their
growth in revenues and profitability. Global Wireless has come into its own as a
source of sustainable growth for the corporation.

"Our International Telecom group continues to strengthen its portfolio, with key
contributions in the quarter from Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and Cable &
Wireless Communications. By merging NYNEX CableComms, a primarily consumer-
oriented operation, into CWC, we have taken a significant ownership position in
a full-service provider with expanded reach and growth prospects in an
attractive market.

"At Bell Atlantic," Smith said, "we are forging the kind of corporation required
to grow and succeed in the new communications industry: a market leader with
diversified sources of earnings growth, strong and steady across-the-board
operating performance, and the readiness to move into new opportunities."

Ivan Seidenberg, Bell Atlantic vice chairman, president and COO, said, "We will
continue this transformation through the rest of this year as we drive up our
top-line growth, mine our merger synergies, develop new platforms and
capabilities, and continue to break through on policy issues.

"Our increased scale and scope has already produced significant capital savings
- more than $150 million on an annual basis -- in contracts for data networking
equipment. To capture revenue synergies, we used best practices to design and
execute what is turning out to be a very successful sales campaign for
value-added services, and we should begin to see the top-line benefits starting
next quarter. We also are on track to transform our cost structure and meet our
1998 target of $450 million in expense savings.

"Our recently announced Data Solutions Group will enable us to organize our data
assets and capabilities and become a compelling choice for fully integrated
local, national and global solutions for business customers.

"And as for long distance, we have broken the regulatory logjam. The recent
endorsement by the chairman of the New York State Public Service Commission
should go a long way toward persuading the FCC that our application to offer
long distance in New York should be approved.

"Not only will approval begin to open up the $20 billion market in our region,
it will be a catalyst for growth across the board - we finally will be allowed
to offer one-stop shopping for toll and long distance like our competitors,
which will strengthen our ability to retain customers and win new ones. Long
distance also will give us the ability to better serve high-end customers, 
become a full-service data provider, and serve the high percentage of 
international traffic to and from our region.

"I'm confident that we'll stay on course and meet both our financial and our
strategic targets, and come through 1998 ready to turn our 'first-mile' local
assets -- the best in the business, in the world's best marketplace -- into
national and global opportunities."

             Domestic Telecommunications Highlights

Telecom Group revenues grew 2.4 percent compared to first quarter 1997, as
continued strong business volumes helped offset the effects of mandated rate
reductions.

Strong demand growth was reflected in the following:

* Domestic access lines in service grew 4.3 percent over first quarter 1997,
  to approximately 40.4 million. As of this quarter, and for prior periods,
  Bell Atlantic includes Primary Rate ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
  channels in its access line totals to recognize the growing transition from
  lines to bandwidth.

* Bell Atlantic ended the quarter with more than 450,000 basic-rate ISDN lines
  in service, up 29.7 percent from first quarter 1997, and more than 550,000
  Primary Rate ISDN channels in service, more than double the first quarter 1997
  total.

* Access minutes of use grew 8.5 percent.

In the residential market:

*  Revenues from value-added call management services such as Caller ID, Call
   Waiting and Home Voice Mail rose 14.1 percent over the same period last
   year. The number of Caller ID subscribers rose to 5.5 million, with revenues
   increasing 43.0 percent.

In business markets:

* The number of Centrex lines increased 8.8 percent year-over-year to 4.6
  million.

* The number of "DSO" circuits in service (digital, high-bandwidth and packet-
  switched services as measured in 64-kilobit voice-grade equivalents) increased
  more than 43 percent over first quarter 1997.

* Revenues from high-bandwidth switched and special access services rose 28.1
  percent over first quarter 1997 levels and approached $500 million.

* The Data Solutions Group's network integration line of business, known as
  BANI, had an exceptionally strong first quarter, growing revenues 47 percent.

In wholesale markets:

* Bell Atlantic ended the quarter providing approximately 300,000 resold access
  lines and nearly 50,000 unbundled loops to other carriers. The majority of
  wholesale sales took placc in New York, where Bell Atlantic-New York received
  the endorsement of the chairman of the Public Service Commission of
  conditions for the PSC's endorsement of the company's entry into long
  distance.

Adjusted network operating expenses for the quarter totaled $5.0 billion, 2.6
percent higher than in 1997. Expenses included costs incurred to restore network
facilities and service after January's severe ice storms in the Northeast, as
well as costs for compliance with the Telecommunications Act 'checklist,'
including local number portability, and investments in growth opportunities.


                         Global Wireless Highlights

Global Wireless ended the quarter with a total of 6.7 million proportionate
customers, an increase of nearly 1.7 million, or 33 percent, over the first
quarter of 1997. Proportionate international subscribers passed the
million-customer milestone in the quarter, with the number increasing by
638,000, or 167 percent, over first quarter 1997. Net international customer
additions in the quarter of 211,000 was triple the number in the prior-year
period.

Total proportionate revenues grew to $977 million, 21.1 percent higher than
first quarter 1997, with international ventures and PrimeCo Personal
Communications, Bell Atlantic's domestic PCS partnership, contributing more than
50 percent of that growth. Proportionate operating income for the portfolio
continued to improve, increasing 68 percent compared to first quarter 1997.

In domestic markets, Bell Atlantic Mobile's focus on profitable growth in the
face of intensifying competition paid off in subscriber growth of more than 18
percent and revenue growth of nearly 12 percent. BAM's aggressive
redefinition of digital pricing in March, which quickly began to shift customers
from analog to digital networks, helped fuel this growth. At the same time, BAM
improved its cash flow margin by five percentage points over the same period
last year, to 42 percent, resulting in a 19 percent increase in operating
income.

PrimeCo Personal Communications added more than 121,000 customers, 56 percent
more additions than in first quarter 1997, and passed the half-million mark
during the quarter.

Domestic highlights include:

* BAM ended the quarter with 5.5 million customers, with net customer additions
  of 127,000 in highly competitive markets. Churn improved slightly on a larger
  customer base, to 1.83 percent from 1.84 percent in first quarter 1997.

* BAM added 96,000 digital customers in the quarter, more than half of whom
  signed up after the new digital pricing was introduced on March 1. BAM now has
  more than 250,000 digital subscribers, or 4.7 percent of its total.

* BAM expanded margin and improved profitability by decreasing cash expense per
  subscriber nearly 15 percent, to $24.60, while revenue per subscriber
  decreased 6.6 percent, to $48.40. BAM total revenue grew more than $80 million
  from the year-ago period.

* Proportionate PrimeCo revenues for the quarter grew to $49 million, more than
  quadruple the revenues of first quarter 1997, with average monthly revenue per
  subscriber of $60.

* PrimeCo's network now covers over 36 million POPs and 28 cities, with
  penetration now 1.4 percent of covered POPs.


International highlights include:

* Omnitel Pronto Italia, Bell Atlantic's Italian wireless consortium,
  continued its rapid subscriber growth, exceeding the 3 million customer mark
  in March. Bell Atlantic announced in April that it will increase its stake in
  Omnitel from 17.4 to 19.7 percent.

* Grupo Iusacell in Mexico increased subscribers more than 90 percent over the
  year-ago period. During the first quarter, Iusacell also began deployment of
  the first next-generation digital CDMA service in Latin America.

* EuroTel Bratislava, Bell Atlantic's wireless investment in the Slovak
  Republic, had a record quarter for additions, increasing its subscriber base
  more than 64 percent over first quarter 1997 to nearly 150,000.

* EuroTel Praha in the Czech Republic also had a robust quarter, with net
  additions of more than 37,000, bringing the number of customers to 392,000, 91
  percent more than in first quarter 1997.

* STET Hellas in Greece continued its rapid growth, increasing subscribers 85
  percent from the same period a year ago.


             International Telecommunications Highlights

Bell Atlantic's International Telecommunications portfolio of overseas wireline
investments ended the period with more than 900,000 access lines in service on a
proportionate basis, and showed proportionate revenue growth of 57.2 percent.
International Telecom made a substantial contribution to equity income growth in
the quarter.

Bell Atlantic benefited from the restructuring of its U.K. investment with the
formation in April 1997 of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) from Mercury
Communications and three cable television companies, including NYNEX CableComms.
Bell Atlantic owns 18.5 percent of CWC. Since April 1997, CWC has made
significant progress toward integrating operations and driving strong revenue
and subscriber growth in all lines of business, and has seen its London stock
price hit an all-time high. CWC will announce results on May 11 for its fiscal
year ending March 31, 1998.

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand (TCNZ) enjoyed solid growth in volumes and
earnings for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 1997. During the first quarter, Bell
Atlantic completed the sale of $2.4 billion in medium-term notes exchangeable
for TCNZ shares. Bell Atlantic used the proceeds to pay down short-term debt
while retaining its 24.95 percent ownership of TCNZ. TCNZ will announce results
on May 19 (EST) for its fiscal year ending March 31, 1998.

Bell Atlantic - formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX - is at the
forefront of the new communications and information industry. With more than 41
million telephone access lines and 6.7 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 22 countries.

Bell Atlantic news releases, executive speeches, news media contacts and other
useful information are available at Bell Atlantic's News Center on the World
Wide Web (http://www.ba.com). To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the
News Center and register for personalized automatic delivery of Bell Atlantic
news releases.

NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and
financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and
uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor
for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Discussion of factors that may affect future results is
contained in our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


END

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