GTE Internetworking announces ESP Direct, a robust, extensive, managed IP network infrastructure service for next generation enhanced IP service providers.

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - GTE Internetworking today announced ESP Direct, a new high-quality, low-cost voice over IP (VoIP) service that provides local inbound dial reach covering 80% of the U.S. metropolitan population. The Service allows "Enhanced Services Providers (ESP)" to deliver communication services such as unified messaging, Internet call waiting, and IP fax to their end-users without having to make a large network infrastructure investment. Live demonstrations of the ESP Direct service will be available this week at the Voice on the Net (VON) Show in San Jose, California, at GTEI booth #800.

ESP Direct is GTE Internetworking's domestic wholesale voice over IP service offering. The company launched its International wholesale offering in October '99. With ESP Direct, service providers can focus on their service platform and end-user customer acquisition while GTE-Internetworking provides the VoIP/FoIP network reach they need. ESP Direct aggregates all of the enhanced service provider's inbound traffic to a single interconnection point at the enhanced service provider's data center.

"GTE Internetworking has made a commitment to being the infrastructure provider of choice for VoIP services. With our new ESP Direct service, we are helping Enhanced Service Providers obtain national reach quickly, with little risk, and at a low cost--essential in today's Internet economy," said Paul O'Brien senior vice president of sales and marketing.

In related news, GTE Internetworking also announced this week a new ESP Direct customer, Pagoo, a leading provider of IP-based voice communications services. GTE Internetworking is also working closely with NetCentrex, a provider of innovative and flexible voice over IP products and services to integrate voice over IP into Pagoo's network architecture. As an ESP Direct customer, Pagoo can quickly deploy their enhanced solutions on a national level without having to make large investments in its existing network infrastructure.

"The capabilities of the ESP Direct service offered by GTE Internetworking combined with our extensive experience designing intuitive interfaces and delivering seamless Internet solutions will dramatically change how people communicate with each other," stated Joc Jacquay, ceo of Pagoo. "Working with GTE Internetworking will enable us to reach every Internet user worldwide with our suite of unique VoIP solutions."

A Leader in VoIP Transport

GTE Internetworking is a leading provider of VoIP transport and termination services in the world. The company's International VoIP Direct service 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.

Feature Benefits of ESP Direct

ESP Direct aggregates all of the enhanced service provider's inbound voice over IP (VoIP) and fax over IP (FoIP) traffic to a single connection point. It also provides low-cost outbound VoIP/FoIP transport and termination to over 450 locations worldwide, with end-to-end QoS, guaranteeing high quality. Other service benefits include:

• Direct Inward Local Dial access to 80% of the US metro markets for broad ingress reach
• Low cost, high quality outbound VoIP/FoIP global transport and termination
• Guaranteed high quality VoIP/FoIP for both inbound and outbound call legs
• Quick allocation of Direct Inward Dial Numbers to meet growing user demand
• Full 24x7 Customer Care and Network Monitoring from GTEI's Global Network Operations Center
• Flexible, standards-based IP network quickly adaptable to new applications and services
• Full featured detailed transaction logging and reporting

GTE Internetworking is already a market leader in VoIP transport. The company is responsible for carrying more than 100 million minutes per month of voice traffic over GTE's private, managed IP network. Additionally, GTE Internetworking's voice over IP services team has received award recognition for network access design, product strategy and outstanding engineering expertise.

Availability

ESP Direct service is the first of a suite of services targeted for ESP's. ESP 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 ESP Direct, visit http://www.bbn.com/voip.

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, 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.

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.

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