Issue of Debt

Bellsouth Corp
16 December 2004




For more information contact:
Brent Fowler, BellSouth
404-249-2839


BellSouth Announces Plans to Redeem $400 Million in Outstanding Debt


ATLANTA - December 16, 2004 - BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), announced today
that it will redeem all of BellSouth Telecommunications Inc.'s outstanding Forty
Year 6-3/4% Debentures, due October 15, 2033, on January 18, 2005. The
redemption price will be 103.33% of the principal amount.  Interest on the
Debentures will cease to accrue on and after the redemption date.  Payment of
the redemption price will be made upon presentation and surrender of the
unsigned Debentures to The Bank of New York, the paying agent, as follows:


•     If by hand or overnight delivery to:
             The Bank of New York
             111 Sanders Creek Parkway
             East Syracuse, NY 13057
             [phone]
•       If by mail to:
             The Bank of New York
             P. O. Box 396
             East Syracuse, NY 13057
             [phone]

BellSouth Corporation has also announced the offering of $400 million of notes. 
Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay the redemption price of the
debentures to be redeemed on January 18, 2005.


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 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 Answers(R), 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.com(R) and The Real Yellow Pages(R).

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




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