AT&T FIRST TO DELIVER LONG-AWAITED "FOLLOW-ME" 500 NUMBERS.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 4, 1995--Mobile consumers and corporate road warriors eager for the new "follow-me-everywhere" 500 numbers are getting them from AT&T, the first company to offer a service.

The company said it already has arrangements to provide 500 numbers to as many as 37,000 members of the National Football League Players, the American Institute for Foreign Study, and Cross Country Healthcare. AT&T also is selling the service to tens of thousands of individuals who reserved numbers last summer, when the company announced how people could use the new numbers.

Customers can begin using the new personal number service, called AT&T True Connections, in the next several weeks as local dialing availability becomes universal.

Anyone who needs to stay connected to business associates, friends or relatives while moving from place to place can benefit from having an AT&T 500 number. People can tailor the service to their needs for anytime-anywhere communications, and can keep their 500 numbers for life.

The people signing up for AT&T's service include real-estate agents, who move around a lot during the day; business owners and executives who spend time in different offices during the week; college students, who move between campuses and their homes; and retirees, who travel throughout the year as both tourists and grandparents.

"AT&T 500-number service can save these people--and the important people in their lives--time and money," said Joseph P. Nacchio, president-AT&T Consumer Communications Services. "They'll spend less time exchanging numbers and tracking each other down when they want to talk. And they may even spend less money making fewer calls."

Customers can choose from several 500-number offers with a variety of features available only from AT&T. Each customer will have a 500-prefix number that can be programmed to ring any telephone, cellular phone, pager, fax machine or personal computer that can be dialed directly in the United States and more than 200 other countries.

By dialing their own 500 numbers, customers can program several phones to ring in sequence, retrieve voice-mail and fax messages and, soon, make outgoing calls without calling cards or coins.

Each of the AT&T 500-number packages will be available for an introductory price of $1 a month, with no enrollment fee, through April 30, 1995. Voice-mail service will cost an additional $5.95 a month.

AT&T's 500-number service for businesses will include all available features, and will cost $7 a month for each number after the introductory offer has ended. The company expects to add more business-related features in the new year.

A variety of packages for consumers allows each person to pick a level of service that meets individual needs. Beginning May 1, subscriptions will range from $1 to $7 a month.

Enrollment for business customers and consumers beginning May 1 will cost $10 for each randomly selected 500 number or $25 for each specifically requested 500 number.

In addition to monthly fees, a per-minute charge will apply to calls made with 500 numbers.

Calls within the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during off-peak hours (from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. weekdays, and all weekend) will cost 15 cents a minute, whether the caller or receiver pays. Calls during peak hours (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays) will cost 25 cents a minute. Rates for some in-state calls may vary. Calls made to or from other countries will be charged the regular AT&T rates for those countries.

Business customers can realize savings opportunities by applying 500-number charges to such volume-discount plans as Customnet and Small Business Advantage Plus.

Charges for consumers' AT&T True Connections calls can be discounted through AT&T True USAsm Savings, and they also can earn points in AT&T True Rewardssm and AT&T Global Rewardssm, the company's customer-rewards programs.

With voice-mail service, subscribers can receive messages and gain more control over their communications. For instance, it gives them the ability to screen calls, and pager owners can receive notification on their pagers when messages have been left in their voice mailboxes.

"We're offering a personal number service that gives customers tremendous flexibility," Nacchio said. "It's rich in features and will help them better manage their communications."

The pro football players, nurses and students getting 500 numbers have distinct needs that AT&T meets.

o The football players and others covered by the NFLPA agreement can program their 500 numbers to follow them to hotels around the country.

o The foreign-exchange students' parents can call their kids' 500 numbers to reach them around the world. The students also can automatically reverse charges on calls back to the United States from locations with touch-tone service.

o The nurses and other medical specialists who take short-term jobs through Cross Country Healthcare, a national placement firm, can have their 500 numbers follow them to the apartments they rent.

Both business customers and consumers can learn more about AT&T True Connections by calling 1-800-TRUE-500, extension 439. For consumers to subscribe, they must have or obtain AT&T long-distance service in their homes, but they are not required to enroll in any specific program.

AT&T 500 Personal Number Services: Packages and Prices January 1995

A single feature-rich package for business customers will be available for the introductory price of $1 a month through April 1995. These customers will receive all the features available to consumers, plus business-related enhancements in coming months.

Four packages for consumers offer a wide range of choices in features, functions and prices. All will cost $1 a month for an introductory period through April 1995.

The basic package, called "Private Line," offers a 500 number that the subscriber can keep for life, no matter how many times he or she moves within the United States. AT&T currently can assign subscribers 500 numbers that begin with 20 different exchanges, such as 346, 367 and 677. For example, a person's number could be 500-346-XXXX. With this package, the calls to the 500 number go only to the subscriber's home telephone. It also allows subscribers to make calls to their own homes when they're traveling. Beginning in February, they'll be able to charge calls to other places on their AT&T True Connections accounts without coins or credit-cards. This package will continue to cost $1 a month after the introductory period.

The "Stay Close" package adds call-placing and the subscriber's choice of call forwarding or reverse-billing to the basic package. Call-forwarding lets the subscriber have 500-number calls forwarded to virtually any other U.S. telephone number and to more than 200 countries and areas on demand. Reverse-billing lets the subscriber pay for calls from other people, when those people have a code number given by the subscriber. This package will cost $3 a month after the introductory period.

The "Traveler" package adds call-placing, call-forwarding and reverse-billing to the basic package, and will cost $5 a month after the introductory period.

The premium package, "Navigator," offers all the above features and adds call-sequencing, which lets a subscriber's 500-number calls ring at several locations in sequence. For instance, a call could be forwarded first to an office phone, then a cellular phone, and then home or even a hotel. The subscriber could change the sequence as often as desired. This package will cost $7 a month after the introductory period.

For $5.95 a month, AT&T True Connections subscribers can add voice-mail and receive an unlimited number of messages. With call-screening, they can choose to receive all calls, urgent calls, calls from certain people, or send all calls to their voice mailboxes. And pager owners can receive notification on their pagers when messages have been left for them.

Both business customers and consumers can learn more about AT&T True Connections by calling 1-800-982-8480, extension 439. For consumers to subscribe, they must have or obtain AT&T long-distance service in their homes, but they are not required to enroll in any specific program.

CONTACT: Jon Mellor Carol Henry

908-221-5017 (office) 908-221-8089 (office)

908-874-8964 (home) 908-766-7248 (home)

Doug Idleman

908-221-3950 (office)

908-647-6910 (home)