GTE Internetworking Enters Asia With Move Into Japanese Market

BURLINGTON, Mass. - With an assertive move into the Japanese market underlining its international expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, GTE Internetworking, a division of GTE Corp., will open a Japanese office, launch an Internet Point of Presence (POP) open a data center in Tokyo, and partner with top-tier Internet Service Provider Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ).

GTE Internetworking's Tokyo office will open on July 1 under the leadership of General Manager Mr. Jun Takeda. The mission of the Japan office is to support GTE's strategic relationship with IIJ as well as provide additional services to their customers and GTE Internetworking's partners around the world as part of the Net.Alliance Program.

GTE Internetworking brings a range of first-class capabilities to the Japanese market including a broad range of internetworking products, consistent worldwide services, and some of the most-aggressive SLAs (Service Level Agreements) in the industry. The expertise that GTEI brings to the Japanese market complements the expertise and capabilities of its partner, IIJ.

In Japan, GTE Internetworking has already secured a Special Type II License, which allows for the nationwide distribution of managed connectivity services. The recently-opened POP will provide the point of aggregation for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and dedicated connectivity traffic. In addition, the data center will be used to support e-commerce applications and Web hosting solutions for global multinational customers. GTE Internetworking will offer multinational customers services and products including roaming dial-up and dedicated Internet access, high-performance Web hosting, managed Internet security, Virtual Private Networks, Fax over IP, Voice over IP, as well as other enabling technologies for electronic commerce.

In an innovative approach to providing global service with local access, GTE Internetworking combines facilities-based products and services with worldwide distribution through its international network of Net.Alliance partners. Net Alliance is a global partnership program delivering a wide range of internetworking services worldwide through top-tier companies in their own markets. The program is based on GTE's belief that being successful in international (non-US) markets requires strong local partners who know their markets and have a parallel service philosophy. GTE Internetworking's operation in Japan and the alliance with IIJ will strengthen the capability of Net.Alliance partners and enhance service to their customers.

"GTE Internetworking offers multinational corporations doing business in Japan a full range of high-quality Internet services designed to support both intra-company requirements and communications with affiliates and customers worldwide," said Bruce Linton, Vice- President GTE Internetworking International Services. "The entry into the Japanese market through the alliance with premier Japanese ISP IIJ, the opening of our Tokyo POP and data center will bring to our customers and partners, cost-effective, high-quality integrated IP-based networking solutions and customer support in the Japanese and Asian market."

GTE Global Network Infrastructure

To accommodate the explosive growth of the Internet, GTE Internetworking will soon complete construction of a global network infrastructure based on fiber-optic technology in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia to ensure that GTE Internetworking and its partners can deliver high-quality services on a global scale. The new GTE-owned and operated private global network is unprecedented in size, performance, geographic scope, and overall capacity. Designed for 99.9% availability, it has over 600 service delivery points, 230 international local access POPs, and 35 peering points.

About GTE Internetworking

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 Internetworking draws upon its expertise in funded research and development of advanced technologies, including satellite networks, packet radio networks, multi-gigabit routers, network and information security, and speech recognition, and GTE's strong existing telecommunications services, including local and long distance, wireless, paging, video, and Internet. GTE is one the world's largest telecommunications companies and a leading provider of integrated voice, video and data services. More information about GTE Internetworking and GTE Corp. can be found on the Internet at http://www.gte.com.

About GTE

With 1998 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE is a leading telecommunications provider with one of the industry's broadest arrays of products and services. In the United States, GTE provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in 17 states, as well as nationwide long-distance, directory, and internetworking services ranging from dial-up Internet access for residential and small-business consumers to Web-based applications for Fortune 500 companies. Outside the United States, the company serves customers on five continents.

# # #