Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch Announce the

Allocation of PrimeCo Assets New York and San Francisco, A (PROTEXT) - Vodafone AirTouchPlc (NYSE: VOD) and Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE: BEL) todayannounced that they have entered into an agreement to restructuretheir ownership interests in PrimeCo Personal Communications,based in Westlake, TX, a partnership that was formed by the twocompanies in 1994. Under terms of this agreement Bell Atlantic will assumeownership of PrimeCo operations in five MTAs - Richmond, VA, NewOrleans, LA, and the Florida markets of Jacksonville, Tampa andMiami. Vodafone AirTouch will take over operations in five MTAs -- Chicago, IL, Milwaukee, WI, and the Texas markets of Dallas,San Antonio and Houston. Other terms of the agreement were notdisclosed. Separately, the companies said that they have reached an out-of-court settlement of all litigation currently pending beforethe United States District Court for the Northern District ofCalifornia, relating to their TomCom limited partnership. Termsof the settlement were not disclosed. The two companies expressed appreciation to the PrimeComanagement team for building one of the most successfulbusinesses in the wireless industry. Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communicationsand information industry. With more than 43 million telephoneaccess lines and 10 million wireless customers worldwide, BellAtlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wirelinevoice and data services, market leaders in wireless services, andthe world's largest publishers of directory information. BellAtlantic companies are also among the world's largest investorsin high-growth global communications markets, with operations andinvestments in 23 countries. INTERNET USERS: Bell Atlantic news releases, executivespeeches, news media contacts and other useful information areavailable at Bell Atlantic's News Center on the World Wide Web(http://www.ba.com). To receive news releases by e-mail, visitthe News Center and register for personalized automatic deliveryof Bell Atlantic news releases. Vodafone AirTouch, based in the United Kingdom, is the world'slargest mobile telecommunications company. It has mobileoperations in 23 countries on five continents, with more than 28million proportionate customers. Its ventures cover a populationof nearly a billion people. For more information, visit thecompany's web site at http://www.vodafone-airtouch-plc.com. In the United States, AirTouch serves 9 million proportionatecellular and PCS customers in 25 states and 22 of the top 30 U.S.markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston,Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Formore information, visit the AirTouch web site athttp://www.airtouch.com. ots Original Text Service: BellAtlantic Corporation; Vodafone AirTouch plc Internet:http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Jim Gerace, of BellAtlantic, (USA) 908-306-7508; or Terry Barwick or MelissaStimpson, (USA) 011-44-1635-33251, or Jonathan Marshall, (USA)415-658-2209 all of Vodafone AirTouch Web site:http://www.airtouch.com Web site: http://www.ba.com Web site:http://www.vodafone-airtouch-plc.com

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