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                                                                   Exhibit 23(a)

                       CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS

We consent to the incorporation by reference in this registration statement on
Form S-4 of our reports dated February 5, 1996, which include an explanatory
paragraph stating that Bell Atlantic Corporation discontinued accounting for the
operations of its telephone subsidiaries in accordance with Statement of
Financial Accounting Standards No. 71, "Accounting for the Effects of Certain
Types of Regulation," effective August 1, 1994, and changed its method of
accounting for income taxes and postemployment benefits in 1993, on our audits
of the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule of
Bell Atlantic Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 1995 and December
31, 1994, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1995,
which reports are incorporated by reference or included in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1995.

We also consent to the reference to our firm under the caption "Experts."

/s/Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

2400 Eleven Penn Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 6, 1996