ALLTEL Announces Management Succession.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2002

Joe Ford to retire as CEO; retain position as chairman

Scott Ford elected CEO effective July 1

ALLTEL (NYSE:AT) announced today that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ford will retire as CEO effective July 1. He will retain his position as chairman of the board of directors. Scott Ford, ALLTEL's president and chief operating officer, has been elected by the company's board to serve as president and CEO to succeed Joe Ford, effective July 1.

Joe Ford began his career with ALLTEL in 1959 and advanced through several management positions, where he was responsible for various activities including marketing, regulatory issues and acquisitions. He was named president and chief operating officer of ALLTEL in 1983. He was named ALLTEL's CEO in 1987 and became chairman and CEO in 1991.

"It has been a tremendous honor for me to spend the past 43 years helping to build one of the leading communications companies in the nation," Ford said. "The remarkable contributions from our employees and shareholders have provided the support our management team needed to grow our company and provide quality service for our customers."

Scott Ford, who joined ALLTEL in 1996, will assume the CEO role in addition to his existing position of president. Ford was named president of ALLTEL in 1997, and he assumed the additional duties of chief operating officer in 1998.

"Joe has built a company that has been successful because it has kept its focus on value creation and customer service," Scott Ford said. "Joe's leadership and vision have been integral to the success that ALLTEL has achieved and the prominence it enjoys. I am committed to maintaining those priorities while responding to the realities of a constantly changing market. ALLTEL will continue to create value for shareholders by staying close to our customers."

At ALLTEL, Joe Ford led efforts to expand local telephone operations and guided the company's entrance into the wireless industry in the mid-1980s. As the wireless industry exploded, Ford steered ALLTEL into fast-growing markets across the southeastern United States.

Ford also guided ALLTEL into the information services business through the acquisition of Systematics Inc. in 1990. That business is now known as ALLTEL Information Services and has operations in more than 50 countries.

Under Ford, ALLTEL has become the sixth-largest local telephone company and the sixth-largest wireless company in the nation. The company currently serves more than 10 million communications customers. ALLTEL Information Services is the nation's leading mortgage processing company.

"ALLTEL's successes result from our ability to stay focused on our time-honored strengths: the value-creating combination of conservative management principles and calculated risk-taking," Joe Ford said. "We have had the right people in the right place at the right time, all of whom have followed the business values of honesty, integrity and respect.

"As our industry continues to consolidate, it is time for the next generation of talented and energetic management to lead the daily operations of ALLTEL."

Since 1996, Scott Ford has been instrumental in enhancing ALLTEL's expansion in the wireless, wireline and information services industries. Ford drove the effort to converge the company's wireless and wireline businesses in 1997, making it easier for customers to do business with ALLTEL. He pushed further expansion of wireless properties and continued the steady growth of wireline efforts. At the same time, the information services business expanded its global reach under Ford's direction.

In the communications business, ALLTEL has made key acquisitions to expand its operations in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio and Texas. The growth included wireless markets in Cleveland, Phoenix and Tampa. At the same time, Ford led ALLTEL's efforts to launch national rate plans that are affordable for customers and profitable for the company.

The information services business has solidified its position in the marketplace and continues to develop software products that improve operations for the nation's top financial services and telecommunications companies.

Across the company, Ford has implemented initiatives that will continue to improve ALLTEL's competitive advantage, including procurement programs and a realignment to bring operations closer to customers.

"Value creation, customer service and growth will continue to be the main areas of focus as we move forward to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing marketplace," Scott Ford said. "ALLTEL will remain a company that has a strong commitment to providing value to shareholders, quality service for customers and growth opportunities for employees. Our commitment to these principles is as strong today as it was in the beginning."

ALLTEL, with more than 10 million communications customers and $7.6 billion in annual revenues, is a leader in the communications and information services industries. ALLTEL has communications customers in 24 states and provides information services to telecommunications, financial and mortgage clients in more than 50 countries.

ALLTEL, NYSE: AT

www.alltel.com

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