Alaska Communications Systems Introduces Brand Name Changes.

Business Editors

ANCHORAGE, Alaska--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

Two familiar communications brands -- ATU and MACtel -- became part of Alaska telecommunications history on April 3rd as those companies adopted the Alaska Communications Systems (ACS) name and logo of the parent company, statewide telecommunications provider Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (ACS)(Nasdaq:ALSK).

The large blue "ATU" sign on the telephone operations headquarters building in midtown Anchorage was replaced with "ACS" and the MACtel sign on the Denali Street wireless office was replaced with an "ACS Wireless" sign.

ACS purchased ATU, MACtel and the PTI Communications companies on May 14, 1999. ACS logos will be mounted on company buildings throughout the state, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak, Kenai, North Pole and Sitka. ACS serves 74 Alaskan communities, offering local, long distance, cellular, Internet and wireless cable television service.

ATU Telecommunications, formerly owned by the Municipality of Anchorage and a provider of local telephone service for more than 80 years, will now be known as Alaska Communications Systems, or "ACS." MACtel, which operates the only statewide digital cellular network, will become ACS Wireless. Also, ACS Internet, which earlier this year introduced its premier high-speed Internet DSL product, "The Pipe," in Anchorage, will enter the Juneau and Fairbanks markets.

PTI Communications, the brand under which ACS currently operates in markets outside Anchorage, will for now retain its name -- as will ATU Long Distance -- while the Regulatory Commission of Alaska reviews the proposed change to ACS. In the interim, a new logo integrating the ACS logo with PTI Communications will be applied to its PTI operations around the state, and an interim-integrated ACS/ATU Long Distance logo will also appear.

Wes Carson, President and COO of ACS, said the move to a unified brand will make it simpler and more convenient for customers to access the Company's broad spectrum of communications and information services. "We have spent the last nine months organizing our five businesses into a strong, consolidated, publicly-traded company. This has allowed us to implement multiple new systems and processes to provide our employees the resources to better serve our customers. We have built upon the great tradition and heritage of the companies we acquired, using the strength of our people and the latest technology to offer our customers the state's best value in full-service telecommunications."

Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALSK), headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, is a diversified, full service telecommunications provider, with more than 400,000 business, government and residential subscribers for its long distance and facilities-based local telephone, wireless, data, network, and Internet services throughout the state.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Actual results could differ materially from these statements as a result of many factors, including matters discussed in the Company's forms S-1 and S-4 registrations statements and in the Company's Forms 10Q and 10K, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.