January 3, 1996

NYNEX CONTACT: Media Relations, (212) 395-0500

Nynex Agreement With Brooks Fiber To Bring More Phone Competition To Springfield, Massachusetts

SPRINGFIELD, MA -- NYNEX has signed an interconnection agreement with Brooks Fiber Communications that is expected to further increase competition for local telecommunications services here.

It is the fourth such agreement NYNEX has signed in Massachusetts. It defines the financial and technical terms under which the companies will interconnect their networks, exchange telephone traffic and compensate each other for handling local calls.

"Competition will benefit customers as only the free market can -- with greater choices and the best prices," said NYNEX Public Affairs Director Mike Pequignot.

According to William J. McIntyre, NYNEX state vice-president -- Massachusetts, regulators here were among the first in the nation to recognize that competition is the best way to achieve public policy goals for telecommunications.

"Governor Weld's administration has been a strong advocate of competition as the most effective way to bring Massachusetts the economic advantages of a thriving telecommunications sector," McIntyre said.

"The agreement underscores NYNEX's commitment to competition for local telecommunications services," McIntyre said. "It further demonstrates that the artificial barriers keeping NYNEX from competing in other markets are obsolete."

NYNEX signed interconnection agreements earlier this year in Massachusetts with Teleport Communications Group, MFSI Intelinet of Massachusetts and another carrier.

Competition dockets to resolve pricing, number portability and other interconnection issues are now before regulators in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications, cable television, directory publishing and entertainment and information services.

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