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AT&T Expands Local Residential Service in Pennsylvania

Posted on: Friday, 9 January 2004, 06:00 CST

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today announced it is expanding its local service offerings for residential customers in Pennsylvania communities. This means that consumers living in most areas currently served by Verizon now have more options for local phone service.

This expansion is good news for many communities, said J. Michael Schweder, president-AT&T Pennsylvania, noting that among the areas where additional services are available are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Harrisburg, Reading, Scranton and many of their surrounding communities. "However, more needs to be done to promote robust competition throughout the Commonwealth, especially in the state's rural communities."

With the exception of rural areas of the state -- "rural" as defined by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) -- consumers can now choose from plans that include unlimited local calling and a package of two, three or five features, such as caller ID, call forwarding and call waiting. Customers also may combine their local service with a broad selection of AT&T long distance plans, or choose AT&T One Rate USA(SM), the company's unlimited calling bundle.

"This expansion means that consumers in the Keystone State can now take advantage of a range of AT&T local service offers, just as their neighbors in Ohio, New Jersey, New York and Maryland have been doing for quite some time," said Schweder.

"We're able to provide this more robust set of options thanks to the actions of the PUC and the interest of Governor Rendell and those Pennsylvania state legislators who have made a good-faith effort to create a wholesale rate structure where competition can begin to flourish."

The PUC recently issued a decision that is expected to result in lower wholesale rates that competitors pay to provide service in non-rural areas, but higher wholesale rates in rural areas.

"Regulatory decisions at the state level are critical to the future of competition. That's why we believe more needs to be done," Schweder added.

"Consistent with the rules of the Federal Communications Commission, it's essential for policymakers to preserve access to the network and ensure reasonable wholesale rates. Only then will the benefits of a competitive telecommunications environment be available to all Pennsylvanians."

Consumers can sign up for AT&T One Rate USA to get a bundle of unlimited local and long distance calling and four features for $49.95 per month (plus taxes and fees). Among the most popular plans for local service is a package that includes caller ID and two additional features for $25 per month (plus taxes and fees).

AT&T already markets residential local service in 27 other states and is available to more than 60 percent of U.S. households. Current subscribers number more than 3.8 million. The company also offers local service plans for businesses throughout Pennsylvania.

To order AT&T residential local service, consumers can call toll-free 1 800 ATT 4 ALL. Or for more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.att.com/home.

About AT&T

For more than 125 years, AT&T has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.

AT&T 'Safe Harbor'

The foregoing are "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of AT&T.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT )

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AT&T

CONTACT: Deborah Jones, +1-908-234-7154 - office,+1-610-909-3753 - wireless, deborahjones@att.com, or Dan Langan,+1-717-731-6641 - office, +1-717-571-1743 - wireless, danielflangan@att.com,both of AT&T

Web site: http://www.att.com/

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