2002 Financial Guidance

Bellsouth Corp
21 February 2002





FOR MORE INFORMATION                                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeff Battcher (404-713-0274)                                February 21, 2002





BellSouth Updates 2002 Financial Guidance



ATLANTA - BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS) announced today that it is updating
financial guidance for 2002 due primarily to recent currency devaluations and
deteriorating economic conditions in Argentina and Venezuela.  The company
indicated that both revenues and earnings are being affected by these factors.
Reported earnings for the first quarter of 2002 will also include a non-cash
charge of $200 million to $230 million related to remeasurement of U.S. dollar
denominated liabilities, primarily long term debt.  The company further stated
that the financial impact of delayed entry into the long distance market, while
not material to guidance as a stand-alone event, was a contributing factor in
the revisions.



BellSouth also reduced its forecast of capital expenditures by $500 million, to
a range of $4.8 billion to $5.0 billion, citing continued weakness in demand,
primarily in the domestic telecom market.



BellSouth's guidance for key financial and business metrics for 2002 follows:



Total operating revenue growth (including Cingular)       2% to 4% growth
Normalized earnings per share growth (excluding FX)       3% to 5%*
Capital expenditures (excluding Cingular)              $4.8 to $5.0 billion
Data revenue                                             22% to 25% growth
DSL high-speed Internet customers                     1.1 million at 12/31/02


*Includes effect of required accounting change under FAS 141 and 142.  Excludes
foreign currency gains or losses.



About BellSouth Corporation



BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services company
headquartered in Atlanta, GA, serving 46 million customers in the United States
and 15 other countries.



Consistently recognized for customer satisfaction, BellSouth provides a full
array of broadband data and e-commerce solutions to business customers,
including Web hosting and other Internet services.  In the residential market,
BellSouth offers DSL high-speed Internet access, advanced voice features and
other services.  BellSouth also provides online and directory advertising
services, including BellSouth(R) Real PagesSM.com.



BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest
wireless company, which provides innovative wireless data and voice services.



In addition to historical information, this document contains forward-looking
statements regarding events and financial trends.  Factors that could affect
future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include: (i) a change in
economic conditions in domestic or international markets where we operate or
have material investments which would affect demand for our services; (ii) the
intensity of competitive activity and its resulting impact on pricing strategies
and new product offerings; (iii) higher than anticipated cash requirements for
investments, new business initiatives and acquisitions and (iv) those factors
contained in the Company's periodic reports filed with the SEC.  The
forward-looking information in this document is given as of this date only, and
BellSouth assumes no duty to update this information.



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