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AT&T's CallVantage Service Expands to Boston Area

Posted on: Monday, 26 April 2004, 06:00 CDT

BOSTON, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today launched the next phase of its residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, called AT&T CallVantage(SM) Service, providing the residents of the Boston metropolitan area a high-tech alternative for their personal communications needs.

In the past month, AT&T CallVantage Service began setting benchmarks for what the company believes will be the industry's most reliable and innovative broadband phone service in the country. To date, it has made the service generally available to consumers in California, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Now the company is expanding its service footprint in Massachusetts for consumers from the Interstate 495 corridor eastward.

AT&T CallVantage Service is now available coast-to-coast in 19 metropolitan markets and will be further expanded to serve other areas of the Bay State and the nation over the coming months.

"AT&T already provides traditional residential local service to more than 4 million households nationwide, but AT&T CallVantage Service marks the beginning of an exciting new era in voice communications that gives customers another competitive choice," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "AT&T will continue to lead the adoption of VoIP services by both businesses and consumers as it delivers the next generation of communications that our customers demand."

AT&T CallVantage Service requires a customer to have a high-speed Internet connection to the home. While a growing number of households have access to these broadband connections through their local cable or telephone company, only about one in five subscribe nationally. In Massachusetts, broadband penetration is the highest in the nation, with penetration levels at nearly 28 percent, according to data from TNS Telecoms.

VoIP applications might just be the "value-add" that consumers are seeking to justify their investment in broadband, Martine said.

AT&T CallVantage Service is different than traditional phone services because through the use of IP-based networks it can offer customers typical features such as call waiting, three-way calling, and call forwarding, and far more advanced ones as well. Indeed, consumers will get unprecedented convenience and control with innovative features including:

* "Call Logs," which tracks incoming and outgoing calling with "click to

dial" capability;

* "Do Not Disturb," which allows customers to receive calls only when

they want, while letting emergency calls ring in;

* "Locate Me," which enables home phones to find customers by ringing up

to five phones all at once or one right after the other;

* "Voicemail with eFeatures," which allows customers to hear their

messages from any phone or PC and forward the voicemail to anyone on

the Web; and

* "Personal Conferencing," which enables users to set up a meeting with

up to nine additional callers.

All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, and a broadband Internet connection and standard telephone supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install -- typically in 10 minutes.

AT&T CallVantage Service works with most cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband connections. The TA is compatible with most home computer networks and may be used in conjunction with various home network routers. And, the adapter can be used from almost any location where there is a telephone and a broadband connection. That gives customers the ability to stay connected by taking this service with them when they travel.

To kick-start the AT&T CallVantage Service launch, AT&T will offer a special introductory rate of $19.99 a month for six months to those who subscribe by May 31, 2004. This promotional rate includes a complete calling solution that provides unlimited local and long-distance domestic calling, including calls to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, discount rates for international calling, and a suite of advanced features that customers have never experienced before. AT&T CallVantage will cost $39.99 a month thereafter. The company plans to add many more advanced features over the next 12 months.

The company's commitment is to expand AT&T CallVantage Service to 100 major markets by year's end as part of AT&T's growing strategic focus on IP-based communications services. The company expects to sign up 1 million business and consumer customers by year-end 2005.

"Imagine extending this set of features to your entire family and the connectedness that functionality will provide. With an IP-based service, imagination combined with software opens up enormous possibilities," Martine added.

AT&T CallVantage Service is an innovative service that promises to transform the way people communicate. A core concept of the service, built on AT&T Labs patented technology, is the ability to quickly introduce new features and capabilities to the platform.

"It is critical to underscore that new technologies like VoIP in no way substitute for the important pro-competitive local phone policies that we would like to see maintained and expanded by the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy. These policies are helping keep phone bills down for many Massachusetts residents, and we would like to see them made available throughout the state, including rural areas," said Bill Leahy, president of AT&T New England.

"The continued access to and leasing of Unbundled Network Elements (UNEs) at reasonable wholesale rates by competitors remains a vital imperative, as well as an essential bridge for investment and innovation," he said.

"Most important, UNEs ensure that the greatest number of options and best prices for telephone service are made available to every Massachusetts resident."

With the addition of AT&T CallVantage Service, AT&T offers consumers an even broader range of communications services designed to meet almost any need and budget. AT&T's portfolio of offers includes everything from new and innovative services like broadband telephony to traditional bundled packages of classic local, long distance and Internet services.

The company plans to support the marketing of AT&T CallVantage Service with an extensive communications campaign that will include mass market advertising on television, radio and in print and through direct mail, viral marketing and online.

To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit http://www.att.com/CallVantage or call 1-866-816-3815, extension 70339.

About AT&T

For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "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.

The foregoing contains "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 )

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT

AT&T

CONTACT: Deborah Jones, +1-908-234-7154, deborahjones@att.com, GaryMorgenstern, +1-908-234-6416, gmorgenstern@att.com, both of AT&T

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

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