GTE Introduces New Wireless Rate Plans Offering Expanded Local Coverage Areas and Affordably Priced Regional Packages

GTE's New Regional Pricing Eliminates Roaming Fees Over a Vast Coverage Area. GTE Also Offering a Nationwide Plan with No Roaming Fees and No Long Distance Charges.

ATLANTA - GTE has announced new wireless pricing plans designed to appeal to the majority of wireless customers by offering expanded local coverage areas and regional options with packaged minutes usable in vast coverage areas with no roaming fees. Available starting Jan. 31, these new regional plans offer pricing that will appeal to a wide range of users for whom cost, simplicity, and extensive coverage are key factors in their choice of service providers. For heavy users who need nationwide coverage, GTE will offer a new, nationwide single-rate plan for digital customers that eliminates both roaming and long distance charges.

"Our customers have told us they want the ability to craft their wireless plans to fit their needs," said GTE Wireless President Mark Feighner. "The five percent of GTE customers who travel extensively within the United States want a nationwide, flat-rate, low-cost plan; most of the rest want easy-to-understand local calling plans or the regional calling options that are a unique element of the plans announced today. We believe that with the GTE Choice Plans, we have created an industry-leading set of offerings that will build customer loyalty through real value."

A Closer Look at the GTE Choice Plans

GTE's new rate plans build upon one another to offer customers simple choices and overall value. GTE's local area plans, known as HomeChoice^SM Plans, offer large local coverage areas, often statewide, with competitive pricing and 50-cents-per-minute roaming rates plus long distance charges of 14-cents-per-minute for calls made within a customer's local service area. By adding a monthly fee as low as $15 to any HomeChoice Plan, customers can take their included minutes throughout the western or eastern United States without paying any roaming charges. The GTE WesternChoice^SM Plan includes all states west of the Mississippi River, while the EasternChoice^SM Plan includes all states east of the Mississippi River. Both plans include the middle states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. "With the GTE EasternChoice or WesternChoice options, roaming charges are eliminated for an area larger than most countries! Now, that's value!" Feighner said.

GTE's AmericaChoice^SM offers nationwide benefits

In addition to the local and regional offers, GTE will also introduce its AmericaChoice Plans that are ideally suited for customers who "roam" or travel extensively. The GTE AmericaChoice Plans eliminate all roaming and domestic long-distance charges no matter where the customer is within the United States.

GTE AmericaChoice customers can choose from three options:

"GTE does not believe in the one-size-fits-all approach to wireless pricing," Feighner said. "GTE's new nationwide digital plan will compete with other offers for those high-usage customers who roam extensively. However, GTE's pricing strategy focuses on a much broader segment, and GTE's regional pricing structure will give the customer some of the basic advantages of the nationwide plan, but at a more affordable price point. GTE's regional plans are designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of our customers, not just the very high-usage segment. We believe this strategy will motivate customers to use their wireless phones more frequently since they will not be concerned about unknown costs. We expect this offer to appeal to many new customers as well, since price will no longer be a barrier."

The GTE Choice^SM Plans offer easy-to-understand rates and benefits that appeal to a wide range of users with their own unique calling patterns. "There are currently about 66 million wireless customers in the United States, many of whom chose wireless service because it helped them with their business, made them more productive, kept them in touch, and provided an extra measure of safety and security. The simplicity and value of new and innovative pricing, such as the GTE Choice^SM Plans, will bring in the next wave of wireless customers," Feighner added.

The GTE Choice Plans will be offered in most GTE markets nationwide. In some markets, a digital phone will be required with certain rate plans.

For more information, call: 1-800-800-4GTE.

About GTE Wireless

GTE Wireless provides wireless voice, paging and data telecommunications services to more than 4.8 million customers in 17 states. GTE Wireless is a part of GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE).

GTE is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and a leading provider of integrated voice, video and data services. More information about GTE Wireless and GTE Corp. can be found on the Internet at http://www.gte.com .

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