GTE Internetworking announces agreement with Global Network Telephone GmbH (GNT), the first major carrier in Germany to sign acontract for wholesale VoIP transport.

Editor's note:

GTE Internetworking will be available to discuss its Voice over IP services in Hall 25 at booth B-60, CeBIT, in Hannover, Germany, February 24-March 1.

CeBIT, Hannover -

GTE Internetworking today announced a significant agreement with Global Network Telephone GmbH (GNT) to provide its award-winning wholesale International Voice over IP (VoIP) Direct service to the European market.

Under the agreement, the first of its type in Germany, GTE Internetworking and GNT will exchange Voice over IP traffic worldwide. The expected combined volume from this partnership will be several million minutes of voice traffic per month. GTE Internetworking, the market leader in VoIP transport, already carries more than 85 million minutes per month of voice traffic over GTE's private, managed IP network.

"This is a great opportunity and we are excited about working closely with a well-established voice carrier in Germany that is gaining a competitive edge in their marketplace by using our IP telephony network for VoIP service," said Paul R Gudonis, president of GTE Internetworking. "More and more traditional telecommunication providers such as GNT are committed to transforming their businesses through strategic partnerships such as this one."

GTE Internetworking's International VoIP Direct provides high-quality wholesale voice over IP transport and termination to national and international communications companies, Internet service providers (ISPs) and Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs). With International VoIP Direct, customers can send domestic and international Voice over IP traffic over GTE Internetworking's managed IP telephony network. This network is built on the company's Global Network Infrastructure (GNI) to maintain high quality. GTE's GNI is a state-of-the-art, private fiber backbone spanning 17,000 miles in the United States alone, with managed high-bandwidth connectivity in place or being installed to Europe, South America and the Far East.

"With International VoIP Direct, Global Network Telephone has further extended its global reach and enhanced its ability to deliver world-class services to our customers," said Karl-Hubert Kaiser, CEO, Global Network Telephone GmbH. "GNT sees this partnership with GTE as a positive challenge to grow our presence in the voice over IP market and to offer this service to our customers worldwide."

About GTE Internetworking's VoIP Services

GTE Internetworking's VoIP services are based on open standards and guaranteed quality-of-service. To provide guaranteed quality-of-service for International VoIP Direct customers, GTE Internetworking has deployed a dedicated, high-quality enhanced IP services network based on Cisco VoIP gateways and gatekeepers. This network enables GTE Internetworking to provide VoIP coverage to over 80 percent of U.S. metropolitan markets and managed high-speed IP connectivity to its extensive international points of presence located around the globe. Additionally, GTE Internetworking employs Intelligent Route Diversity^SM (IRD), a unique technique combining load-balancing, automated dynamic least cost routing, and failover to the PSTN. IRD assures customers the best termination rates along with high reliability.

GTE Internetworking is the leading provider of VoIP Services, and International VoIP Direct is the leading wholesale VoIP transport service worldwide. Since launching International VoIP Direct last fall, GTE Internetworking has won Internet Telephony magazine's 1999 Product of the Year Award for International VoIP Direct, tele.com magazine's Ovation Award for IP expertise, as well as the Financial Times Global Telecom Award for Best Use of Internet Technology. In addition, GTE Internetworking has filed more than a dozen patents for VoIP service, support and provisioning capabilities.

Availability

International VoIP Direct service is available now. It comes with guarantees for quality, reliability and performance, and provides partners with turnkey start-up support. To learn more about GTE Internetworking's VoIP Direct, visit http://www.bbn.com/voip.

About GTE Internetworking and GTE Corp.

GTE Internetworking, a unit of GTE Corporation (NYSE:GTE), offers customers, from consumers to Fortune 500 companies, a full spectrum of integrated Internet services using IP networking technologies. GTE Internetworking delivers complete network solutions, including dial-up and dedicated Internet access, high-performance Web hosting, virtual private networks (VPNs), managed Internet security, network management, systems integration, and Web-based application development for integrating the Internet into business operations. GTE is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and a leading provider of integrated voice, video and data services. Additional information about GTE Internetworking can be found on the Internet at http://www.bbn.com, and about GTE Corp. at http://www.gte.com.

About Global Network Telephone GmbH

Global Network Telephone GmbH (GNT) is the leading independent carrier's carrier in Germany. With an operational switch in Frankfurt and more than 20 additional Points of Presence and Interconnect scheduled for service before the end of year 2000, Global Network Telephone has rapidly established a significant customer base throughout Germany, Europe and the United States. Headquartered near Hannover, GNT provides wholesale carrier services for voice, data and mobile traffic. Additional information can be found on the Internet at http://www.global-network.de.

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