RNS Number:5356Z
Bellsouth Corp
08 June 2004





MEDIA CONTACTS:
Todd Smith
BellSouth Media Relations
404-829-8723
todd.smith@bellsouth.com


      BELLSOUTH ADDRESSES BUSINESS VOICE OVER IP MARKET WITH COMPREHENSIVE 
                            PORTFOLIO APPROACH

-- Leading Carrier Introduces Network-Hosted Voice Over IP Trial Offer; Service
               to Complement Existing Voice Over IP Portfolio --



ATLANTA - June 8, 2004 - BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) today announced it will begin
offering, on a market trial basis, a business class network-hosted voice over IP
(VoIP) service in Columbia, S.C. and Miami, Fla.  The company expects to develop
offers in additional metros in the Southeast later this year, based on these
trials.



The service complements BellSouth's full suite of communications solutions and
is designed to meet the needs of businesses that desire productivity and
efficiency benefits of IP without the capital expense and management
responsibilities of premises equipment.  Customers' voice and data traffic will
be carried on the private BellSouth(R) Regional IP Backbone, versus the public
Internet, providing the enhanced security, reliability and quality of service
that businesses demand.   This network was built by BellSouth to support next
generation IP applications like VoIP and Network VPN.



Network-hosted VoIP is the latest enhancement to BellSouth's
comprehensive VoIP portfolio and allows the company to address the convergence
needs of businesses with a unique approach based on individual customer
requirements.   This portfolio includes equipment-based services (IP-PBXs),
which the company has offered for nearly three years, Centrex IP, a network
service announced last month, and the additional network-hosted service
announced today.  These solutions are all designed to complement traditional
voice services currently utilized by businesses and provide alternatives and
migration paths as customers consider the technology evolution and voice/data
integration of their communications networks.



"The new service will allow BellSouth to provide simplified convergence
solutions by extending VoIP capabilities to manage complexity for customers in
the network," said Mark Kaish, BellSouth's vice president of Next Generation
Solutions.  "BellSouth's portfolio approach allows the company to meet the voice
and data needs of a wide array of businesses, based on their specific
requirements, whether it is traditional or IP technology in a premises- or
network-hosted environment."



IP technology delivers efficiency and productivity features of communications
convergence to businesses, including unified messaging, cost effective moves,
adds and changes and the ability to access enhanced office calling functions
from remote locations.  The customer retains full control of customized calling
features through an interactive Web interface.  Businesses benefit from all
these capabilities with each of the services in BellSouth's VoIP portfolio.



"The efficiency and productivity gains associated with VoIP are driving more
companies to take a closer look at solutions that leverage this technology,"
said Mark Winther, group vice president of Worldwide Telecommunications at IDC.
"It is critical that service providers have a full suite of services to address
a multitude of needs when guiding customers down the migration path and
BellSouth has demonstrated a clear understanding of this with its comprehensive
portfolio approach."



BellSouth has selected an integrated solution from Siemens, utilizing its
next-generation softswitch to deliver the network-hosted VoIP services announced
today.



Over the last two years, BellSouth has evolved its underlying SONET
infrastructure to a next-generation MSPP (Multiservice Provisioning Platform) to
improve network efficiencies and to better support new optical solutions. The
company has also integrated MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) into its
network core and edge and is running the BellSouth Regional IP Backbone
utilizing this technology.  With its network enhancements, BellSouth can provide
improved service-level agreements, quality of service and incremental speed
options for customers.  The enhancements also enable the creation and delivery
of next-generation services, such as VoIP and Network VPN, beyond traditional
network boundaries.



About BellSouth Corporation



BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second
largest wireless voice and data provider.



Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most
comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the
market. Through BellSouth AnswersSM, residential and small business customers
can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL
Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For
businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice
and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory
advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.comsm and The Real Yellow Pages(R).



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



                                     # # #






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