GTE shareholders elect four directors, ratify the appointment of auditors and defeat two other proposals at annual meeting.

IRVING, Texas - GTE shareholders today re-elected four members of the company's board of directors, ratified the appointment of outside auditors, and defeated two proposals from shareholders at the GTE annual meeting in Atlanta.

GTE shareholders also approved the GTE/Bell Atlantic merger (Editor's Note: see separate news release issued earlier today for details).

Re-elected to GTE's board of directors were:

--Edward H. Budd, retired chairman of the board of The Travelers Corporation;

--James L. Ketelsen, retired chairman of Tenneco Inc.;

--Charles R. Lee, GTE chairman and chief executive officer; and

--John W. Snow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CSX Corporation.

James L. Johnson, retired GTE chairman and CEO, did not seek re-election, having reached the retirement age for board members of 72.

In other action, shareholders:

--Ratified the appointment of Arthur Andersen LLP as GTE's independent auditors;

--Defeated one shareholder proposal on foreign military sales and another limiting executive bonuses.

About GTE

With 1998 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE is a leading telecommunications provider with one of the industry's broadest arrays of products and services. In the United States, GTE provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in 17 states, as well as nationwide long-distance, directory, and internetworking services ranging from dial-up Internet access for residential and small-business consumers to Web-based applications for Fortune 500 companies. Outside the United States, the company serves customers on five continents.

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