BLS Signs Carrier Agreements

Bellsouth Corp
04 May 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Al Schweitzer
BellSouth
404-829-8741
[e-mail]

                  BellSouth Signs Long-Term Commercial Agreements
                     with Four Additional Wholesale Carriers

ATLANTA - May 4, 2004 - BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) today announced the signing of
long-term commercial agreements with four additional wholesale carriers
including ABC Telecom, INET, KingTel and WebShoppe for the provisioning of
wholesale local phone services throughout the nine-state BellSouth region in the
Southeast. This brings the total to seven commercial agreements for BellSouth.

"The negotiations continue to be successful as our customers and BellSouth
recognize the opportunity of working toward a free marketplace where economics
will replace an unproductive cycle of litigation," said Keith Cowan, President
of BellSouth Interconnection Services.

BellSouth also announced that, due to the high level of interest in its offer
and the success of current negotiations, the company is extending its offer to
negotiate wholesale agreements for access to the BellSouth network. BellSouth's
wholesale switching offer includes a net increase of zero for mass market
customers for the remainder of 2004, then introduces commercial rates with
modest increases that would be phased in over 36 months.

Since the FCC's call for the negotiation of commercial agreements, BellSouth has
executed nondisclosure agreements with more than 60 telecommunications carriers.
These non-disclosure agreements set the framework for ongoing, confidential
negotiations of commercial terms. BellSouth has also executed letters of intent
with three other wholesale carrier customers.

BellSouth previously announced long-term commercial agreements with Dialogical
Communications, Inc., International Telnet and CI2.  In addition, BellSouth is
offering a plan to provide an efficient transition from UNE transport and high
capacity loops to transport offered via BellSouth's tariffs.

About BellSouth Corporation

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second
largest wireless voice and data provider.

Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most
comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the
market. Through BellSouth AnswersSM, residential and small business customers
can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL
Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For
businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice
and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory
advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.comsm and The Real Yellow Pages(R).

More information about BellSouth can be found at www.bellsouth.com.

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