GTE TSI, NTT DoCoMo to provide two-way, international wireless roaming between Japan and the U.S. with GlobalRoam services support.

SAN FRANCISCO -- It is estimated that people living in Japan and the United

States make almost five million trips a year between the two countries. It's a

fact that the two countries boast the highest number of wireless phone

subscribers in the world.

Now, for the people making all those trips, staying in touch anytime,

anywhere will become a lot easier.

GTE Telecommunication Services Inc. (GTE TSI) and NTT Mobile Communications

Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), the largest nationwide wireless operator in Japan,

today announced a contract to provide GlobalRoam services support, which will

enable travelers between the two countries to enjoy the advantages of

instantaneous wireless communications.

Beginning second quarter 1997, NTT DoCoMo customers traveling to the United

States will be able to use GlobalRoam service, the world's first two-way,

international wireless roaming system. GTE TSI is providing call delivery and

call origination capabilities, customer support and fraud control measures, as

well as billing record translation and clearing services so that international

roaming charges appear on the subscriber's home bill. The service is also made

possible by an inter-standard roaming agreement between NTT DoCoMo and GTE.

Wireless subscribers in the United States should be able to use the service

when traveling to Japan by the end of 1997. To complete the service's two-way

functionality, GTE TSI and NTT DoCoMo will establish gateways that provide

interoperability between different wireless transmission standards.

In addition, NTT DoCoMo has also entered into a memorandum of understanding

for inter-standard roaming with T-Mobil, the largest wireless operator in

Germany.

As a result, NTT DoCoMo customers signing up for GlobalRoam service can

receive calls to their home wireless phone number while traveling in the United

States. In addition, the calls they make will be competitive with existing

international calling methods, and charges will conveniently appear on their

home wireless phone bill.

The service has been offered since 1995 by GTE TSI in conjunction with GTE

Wireless and T-Mobil. It is available to wireless operators in nearly 50

countries on four continents using two of the most common wireless transmission

standards -- Advanced Mobile Phone Services (AMPS), widely used in North

America, and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), widely used by

countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Agreement Breaks New Ground by Adding PDC Standard to Service

These agreements with NTT DoCoMo break new ground by adding the world's

third most widely used standard -- the Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) system.

NTT DoCoMo has more than 10 million subscribers, which represents half of

Japan's wireless phone subscribers.

"Japan is one of the world's most significant business centers and travel

destinations, which is why we're excited to form this alliance with NTT DoCoMo,

one of the world's premier providers of wireless service," said Todd Eliason,

president of GTE TSI. "With all the business and travel taking place between

Japan and the U.S., the benefits of using GlobalRoam service will prove

extremely attractive to wireless customers. And with the 1998 Winter Olympics

being held in Nagano, Japan, the benefits of the service will be especially

appealing in the very near future."

The agreements, according to Eliason, are also significant from a

technological perspective. "What's impressive about GlobalRoam service is that it links dissimilar protocols so that wireless operators worldwide have an easy, affordable way of doing business with each other," Eliason added. "Most importantly, it lets wireless operators add a strategically valuable service to a key group of

customers."

"Since GTE TSI is one of the world's leaders in providing roaming

facilitation solutions, we're very pleased to be joining forces with them to

make roaming support available for people traveling between Japan and the U.S. -

- and, eventually, to make the long-term goal of worldwide seamless roaming a

reality," said Kouji Ohboshi, president of NTT DoCoMo.

"We've invested considerable time in developing this strategic relationship

with GTE TSI, and we look forward to leveraging our relationship to continue to

provide better-than-ever services to wireless subscribers."

Wireless Operators Can Integrate the Service into their Portfolio

GTE TSI has been marketing GlobalRoam service since 1995 to wireless

operators in the U.S. and Canada. The service can be priced, sold and fully

integrated into a wireless operator's service portfolio. It is available for a

one-time activation fee, a nominal monthly charge per subscriber and a flat,

per-minute airtime rate plus toll charges. Wireless operators are free to set

their own retail price to their subscribers.

In addition to enabling call delivery and call origination, GlobalRoam

service offers wireless operators international customer support, billing on the

subscriber's home bill and fraud control measures.

Wireless operators may elect to handle all customer inquiries, activations,

pricing, billing and equipment rentals. However, as part of GlobalRoam services

support, those functions can be managed by GTE TSI on behalf of the wireless

operator.

GTE TSI, a Tampa, Fla.-based unit of GTE Corp., is a leading provider of

multiple technology solutions for more than 170 wireless operators in North

America, Latin America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific Rim region in the areas of

roaming facilitation, fraud management, customer service and revenue

enhancement. Its solutions -- which include international roaming and clearing,

cryptographic authentication, customer retention, nationwide activations and

prepaid wireless -- deliver what no other company in the wireless industry can:

a single, reliable source for helping wireless operators meet virtually all of

their evolving needs.

With revenues of more than $21 billion in 1996, GTE is one of the largest

publicly held telecommunications companies in the world. GTE stock is traded on

the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as well as the New York Stock Exchange and others

around the world. GTE has had a presence in Japan since 1974 through its Tokyo-

based GTE Far East (Services) Limited.

NTT DoCoMo is a leading mobile communications provider in Japan, with gross

sales of $4.5 billion in 1995. NTT DoCoMo provides state-of-the-art services and

a wealth of applications, such as cellular services, paging services, satellite

mobile communications service, and other data communication services to meet

rapidly growing demands. The mobile environment in Japan is being constantly

improved upon by NTT DoCoMo's research and development laboratory, one of the

most highly regarded facilities in the world.

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Note to media

The source for the number of trips made between Japan and the U.S. is the

International Tourism Center of Japan's International Tourism Statistics of

1994. The source for number of wireless phone subscribers in the U.S. and Japan

is Wireless Market Portfolio's International Outlook from the Personal

Communications Industry Association (PCIA).

GlobalRoam is a service mark of GTE Mobile Communication Services Corporation

and Deutsche Telekom MobilNet GmbH (T-Mobil). Registered in United States.

For demonstrations of GTE TSI's technology solutions, visit GTE TSI at Booth 511

at Wireless '97.