GTE signs $40 million contract with MarkNet to provide the infrastructure for a new Internet service

Irving, Texas - GTE Communications Corp. (GTECC), a unit of GTE Corp., recently signed a three-year, $40 million contract to provide the dial-up access for an Internet service to be sold by MarkNet, a South Carolina-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company.

In addition to basic Internet service, GTECC is providing MarkNet with Web-hosting capabilities and a Help Desk to assist customers. Utilizing GTE's extensive national fiber optic infrastructure, GTECC will enable MarkNet to offer Internet dial-up service in areas covering approximately 92 percent of the U.S. population. The service is scheduled to launch in June 1999.

"MarkNet's expected growth from their multi-level marketing approach will be supported by our strength as the carriers' carrier of Internet service," said Dave Fanning, president of GTECC Strategic Markets. "Our partnership with MarkNet expands GTECC's presence nationwide and demonstrates our capabilities to current and potential customers."

MarkNet's new service will be called Favorite Online and will be sold to consumers and business owners.

"GTE is the leading provider of Internet backbone infrastructure. Our partnership with GTE allows us to concentrate on selling rather than developing and maintaining a telecommunications infrastructure," said Tim M. Tyler, president and CEO of MarkNet. "We can sell with confidence knowing that our services are reliable, extremely competitive and offer a rare level of support both before and after the sale."

MarkNet's sales efforts will target customers who have "technology fear" and have resisted the introduction of the Internet due to lack of information and training. MLM representatives will demonstrate the services directly to their friends, families and others, and then train them to use it. The MLM tracking process and commission payments to business builders will be fully online, which will eliminate excess paperwork that is common within other MLM companies.

About GTE

GTE Communications Corporation is the national retail sales and service arm for GTE Corporation. With 1998 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE Corp. 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 service 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. In addition, GTE is also a leader in government and defense communications systems and equipment, directories and telecommunications-based information services, and aircraft-passenger telecommunications.

About MarkNet and Favorite Online

Headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, Favorite Online and its parent corporation, MarkNet Inc., provide an array of technology-based products and services through strategic alliances with prominent technology providers and financial institutions.

In partnership with GTECC, the company gives its network marketers, or business builders, the opportunity to share in the $100 billion Internet marketplace. The company's compensation plan is designed to reward its business builders quickly and to provide long-term residual income. For more information, contact MarkNet at 1-877-MarkNet.

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