No Y2K woes, Bell Atlantic reports

Officials at Bell Atlantic Corp., which provides telecommunication services and equipment for federal agencies in the Washington, D.C., area, reported today that they had experienced no Year 2000-related problems.

"The good news this afternoon is that there is no news," said Paul Lacouture, group president for Bell Atlantic's network services unit. An information telephone hotline set up for federal customers also indicated that Bell Atlantic's Federal Emergency Command center had experienced no "Y2K abnormalities" at 4 p.m. today.

Bell Atlantic already has seen its Year 2000 readiness tested in the new year, according to Lacouture. "Equipment used by Bell Atlantic is also in use in many other countries' telecommunications systems," he said. "And this equipment is functioning normally in places like New Zealand and Australia, where we are now nearly half a day into the new millennium."

Bell Atlantic has spent close to $400 million making sure it is Year 2000-compliant and has close to 20,000 workers monitoring its networks today, Lacouture said.