BSC British Smaller Companies Vct2 Plc

RNS Number:9052Q
Bellsouth Corp
06 September 2005








Media Contact:
Joe Chandler
(404) 312-1964
joe.chandler@bellsouth.com



                 BellSouth Updates Impact of Hurricane Katrina

                    - Provides Initial Financial Assessment

            -Company Focusing on Service Restoration for Customers-

ATLANTA - September 6, 2005 - BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) today announced updates on
the impacts of Hurricane Katrina to its customers, network and employees. The
company has also completed an assessment of restoration timelines as well as an
initial estimate of the financial impact of the storm on its network operations.

"BellSouth is engaged in active dialogue with its customers and is working to
re-establish and reroute communications capabilities according to their needs,"
said Bill Smith, BellSouth Chief Technology Officer. "On a priority basis, we
continue to focus on restoration in support of public safety concerns, wireless
services and relief activities. Our overall restoration activities are ongoing
and we are making good progress daily."

Based on data from BellSouth's field survey teams, an estimated 810,000 lines
remain impacted in the hardest-hit areas along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama.  In this same area, BellSouth has 131 central offices,
with all but 19 operating. These 19 central offices serve approximately 187,000
access lines, with 166,000 of these lines being in the New Orleans area.
Restoration plans for these 19 offices are being developed.

"Restoration begins with our central offices and high-capacity trunk lines and
the vast majority have been repaired. We are making steady progress as we gain
access. Most customers will be restored within 30 days," noted Smith. "However,
some communities may take longer to rebuild in certain cases depending on when
residents and businesses are able to return to these most affected areas and the
time it takes to rebuild needed local infrastructure. New Orleans is an atypical
situation given the floodwaters and access issues, and because of this, we will
track restoration activity in New Orleans separately."

As it gains more access to the most heavily impacted areas, BellSouth continues
to assess the full impact on its network operations. It is too early to project
the total magnitude of destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, but based on the
information available today and without the opportunity to survey and physically
assess the entire area, BellSouth's initial estimate is a cost of $400-600
million, including both capital and expense, for network restoration.

BellSouth has about 13,000 employees in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - and
approximately 6,500 of these are in the hardest hit areas affected by the storm.
In order to help our employees continue to work in the face of this hardship,
BellSouth has set up BellSouth "tent cities" in Baton Rouge and Covington,
Louisiana; and Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Jackson, Mississippi. An additional
location will be established this week in Kenner, Louisiana. These cities will
provide BellSouth employees and their families with necessities such as food,
shelter, clothing, financial support and employee assistance programs.  The
cities will also serve as deployment areas for BellSouth technicians and
engineers that will be sent back into impacted areas to restore service for
customers.

This information is accurate only as of the date and time of this release and is
likely to change as power is restored, floodwaters recede and other developments
occur.  Although we will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide updated
information on a regular basis, this information will not be updated in
real-time.

About BellSouth Corporation

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia.  BellSouth has joint control and 40 percent ownership of
Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider with
51.6 million customers.



More information about BellSouth can be found at www.bellsouth.com.



In addition to historical information, this document may contain forward-looking
statements regarding events and financial trends. Factors that could affect
future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include: (i) a change in
economic conditions in markets where we operate or have material investments
which would affect demand for our services; (ii) the intensity of competitive
activity and its resulting impact on pricing strategies and new product
offerings; (iii) higher than anticipated cash requirements for investments, new
business initiatives and acquisitions; (iv) unfavorable regulatory actions; and
(v) those factors contained in the Company's periodic reports filed with the
SEC. The forward-looking information in this document is given as of this date
only, and BellSouth assumes no duty to update this information.



                                      ###


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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