GTE and Solect Technology Group form alliance to help local and regional Internet Service Providers solve their customer care and billing issues by providing an outsourced service.

ISPCON, Baltimore, MD - GTE Data Services, a unit of GTE Corp. and Solect Technology Group, the leader in IP billing and customer care software, today announced they have formed an alliance to provide an outsourced, hosted, billing and customer care application to local and regional Internet service providers (ISPs).

The new service, NETime^TM, is designed to help ISPs quickly deploy and bill for new services and rapidly add new customers, all within a secure environment at a lower cost than many current billing systems - all while maintaining their corporate brand.

"With NETime, ISPs can avoid the up-front investment in software and hardware as well as the on-going costs of maintaining an application in-house," said Deborah Anders, president of GTE Data Services International. "ISPs gain additional customer care and service management functionality and superior billing expertise for less than what it costs them to bill their subscribers today. And NETime can scale with their business. They never run the risk of out-growing NETime."

Anders adds, "We believe that NETime will be the premier pay-as-you-grow customer care and billing turnkey solution for local and regional ISPs."

Targeted to local and regional ISPs seeking a cost-effective alternative to in-house billing and customer care solution or for whom a site-licensed-based arrangement is too costly, NETime will be jointly marketed, sold and implemented by GTE and Solect. It is based on Solect's IAF Horizon^TM IP billing solution and is hosted in GTE Data Services' state-of-the-art data center, which provides 99.99 percent online availability.

"This is a tremendous market opportunity for both GTE and Solect," said Paul Atkinson, CEO, Solect. "We have worked closely with GTE to assess their infrastructure environment. The combination of their state-of-the-art data center, outsourced billing expertise and the power of IAF provides the comprehensive billing and customer care solution required to bill and manage the complex requirements for outsourced applications and virtual ISPs."

How NETime Works

NETime^TM enables Internet Service Providers to rapidly add new packaged applications, host multiple branded retailers and manage large numbers of subscribers and services. It is the unique modular architecture of IAF within NETime^TM that allows the Provisioning Data Collectors (PDCs) to run at any time without disruption to current services. Solect's uniquely flexible PDC plug-ins allow real-time provisioning and data collection for any application, providing accurate and timely rating and billing.

"Our agreement with Solect harnesses the extensive functionality of IAF Horizon by taking advantage of the things we do well at GTE Data Services, like IP-based networks, data center management, and IT services outsourcing, to provide a reliable, easy to use and cost-effective choice for the ISP market," said Anders.

Pricing and Availability

Pricing is based on the number of subscribers and includes a three-year service contract and a six-month trial agreement for ISPs wanting to test market their own new service offerings. GTE plans to sell NETime with Solect, through GTE sales channels and designated system integrators.

About GTE Data Services

GTE Data Services, a unit of GTE Corp. (NYSE: GTE), is one of the largest information technology organizations in the country with more than 30 years of experience designing, connecting and operating industrial-strength data centers that provide 99.99 percent system availability to commercial customers and GTE affiliates. The company supplies applications development, data center processing and outsourcing, and data network services to telecommunications carriers and business customers worldwide.

With 1998 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and a leading provider of integrated telecommunications services. In the United States, GTE provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in 17 states; nationwide long-distance and internetworking services ranging from dial-up Internet access for residential and small-business consumers to Web-based applications for Fortune 500 companies, as well as video service in selected markets.

Outside the United States, the company serves nearly 9 million telecommunications customers. GTE is also a leader in government and defense communications systems and equipment, directories and telecommunications-based information services, and aircraft-passenger telecommunications. For more information about GTE Data Services and GTE visit the Web at www.gtedataservices.com, or www.gte.com, respectively, or call Craig Cordell at 813/978-5631.

About Solect

Solect is shaping the new public network with IAF, the world's leading integrated billing, customer care and service management software solution for service providers. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Solect has more than 60 Service Provider installations globally. Solect began building software infrastructure solutions for commercial ISPs as early as 1993, maintaining a singular focus on the Internet. Solect has developed strategic partnerships with leading technology companies, such as Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Netscape, Bellcore, Oracle, and Nokia, which has ensured that Solect's products are continually refined to incorporate all the latest technology to meet the requirements of the rapidly changing world of the Internet. Visit Solect at http://www.solect.com.