Pacific Bell and CENIC Team Up to Advance the Cause of Internet2 and Next-Generation Broadband Technologies

Monterey, California - May 6, 1999: Pacific Bell today became a corporate associate of the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), to provide both network expertise and financial support. CENIC, formed by California's major research and academic institutions, is providing leadership in advancing the use of communications networks for research and education in California, as part of the national Internet2 initiative.

The announcement, made today at the CENIC'99 Conference in Monterey, makes Pacific Bell one of four corporate partners in the CENIC Associates program, and an integral collaborator with higher education, industry, and government to develop advanced Internet technologies.

"Pacific Bell's participation in CENIC is important to our successful development and deployment of next generation network communications services for California's premier education and research institutions," noted Thomas W. West, CENIC's president and executive director.

For more information about Pacific Bell, visit the Pacific Bell web site at www.pacbell.com. For more information about the CENIC and its Associates program as well as Internet2, visit the CENIC web site at www.cenic.org.

About CENIC

CENIC is a not-for-profit corporation formed by the California Institute of Technology, the California State University, Stanford University, the University of California, and the University of Southern California to advance the use of communications technology in research and education at California's universities. CENIC's Associates program includes Cisco Systems, IBM, Pacific Bell and Sun Microsystems.

CENIC operates CalREN-2 for qualified public and private sector institutions for research and learning purposes. CalREN-2 is California's segment of the national Internet2 initiative that links over 100 of the nation's leading universities. CalREN-2 is partially funded by the National Science Foundation.

About Pacific Bell

Pacific Bell is a subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com), a global leader in the telecommunications industry, with more than 37.7 million access lines and 7.2 million wireless customers across the United States, as well as investments in telecommunications businesses in 11 countries. Under the Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell, SNET, Nevada Bell and Cellular One brands, SBC, through its subsidiaries, offers a wide range of innovative services. SBC offers local and long-distance telephone service, wireless communications, data communications, paging, Internet access, and messaging, as well as telecommunications equipment, and directory advertising and publishing. SBC has more than 130,000 employees and its annual revenues rank it in the top 50 among Fortune 500 companies.