Bell Atlantic Offers 5-Cent Long-Distance Rate

Bell Atlantic Corp., the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, will charge as little as 5 cents a minute for its new long-distance service in New York state, according to information posted on a new company Web site at https://www.callbell.com. Residential customers who sign up for Bell Atlantic’s “E-Values” long-distance plan using the Internet will pay 5 cents a minute for weekend calls and 9 cents a minute at all other times, with no monthly fees or minimum-use requirements. Elsewhere on its Web site, Bell Atlantic offers a plan that charges up to 22 cents a minute--among the industry’s highest rates. Bell Atlantic won Federal Communications Commission approval two weeks ago to sell long-distance in New York, becoming the first local telephone company to enter the $90-billion-a-year U.S. business. Rivals AT&T; Corp., MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. offer long-distance service for as little as 5 cents a minute, although their plans include monthly fees. Shares of New York-based Bell Atlantic fell $1.63 to close at $59.94 on the NYSE.