Excel Communications Taps Altura International to Create the ishopExcel Mall.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2000

Dallas-based Excel Communications signed Altura International (www.altura.com) to develop the ishopExcel(SM) Mall (www.ishopexcel.com), a custom version of Altura's flagship mall, CatalogCity.com (www.catalogcity.com).

"The ishopExcel(SM) Mall will provide Excel's direct sales force and its customers with hundreds of thousands of branded products this holiday season," said Huntley W. Bakich, senior vice-president of e-commerce.

The site will feature some 600 brand name catalog merchants, including The Sharper Image, Talbot's, Bombay, Hammacher Schlemmer, Hanover Direct, J.Jill, Ross-Simons, TravelSmith and Fisher Price.

Launched August 30th during Excel's annual "Excelebration" sales force event, the site will appear on the Excel home page (www.excel.com) as ishopExcel(SM). It also will be accessible from the Independent Representatives' ("IR") individual home sites on the Web.

At the core of ishopExcel(SM) is a powerful and flexible e-commerce technology developed by Altura International. The Altura Merchant Operating System (AMOS) is the only multi-vendor, multi-lingual, multi-currency merchant operating system capable of giving customers around the globe at different Web sites and on different classes of devices, easy access to thousands of the world's best products. The AMOS universal shopping cart platform offers shoppers an easy-to-use, consistent, one-stop shopping experience.

"This business alliance offers our customers a vast array of name brand products that can be purchased easily, quickly and in a secure transaction environment. The timing of this site launch is also important - we have the holiday season coming, which will provide our customers with important, added convenience," said Bakich.

Excel's priority is finding the right e-commerce shopping opportunities to complement its Independent Representative's existing relationships with the Excel customer payment structure, according to Bakich. This arrangement with Altura also provides the long-term, global strategy that is so vital to Excel. These combined elements were critical in the decision to select Altura International.

"This arrangement is a perfect example of how we help our merchant partners win on the Web by building their content into an online custom mall. Everyone wins in this B2B2C proposition, and our relationship with Excel clearly demonstrates the total solution our AMOS technology provides," said Lee Jay Lorenzen, Altura's president & CEO.

As part of the two-year term of this agreement, Altura will also build a U.K. version, and a Canadian French with the English version of the ishopExcel(SM) Mall 2001.

About Excel Communications, Inc.

Excel Communications, Inc., is a subsidiary of Teleglobe, Inc. Using direct selling as its primary distribution channel, Dallas-based Excel offers subscribers telecommunications and e-commerce services through a nationwide network of Independent Representatives. Excel also owns and operates a nationwide, facilities-based telecommunications network. The company recently initiated a successful international expansion in Canada, and expects to offer its services in Europe in 2000. For more information, visit http://www.excel.com.

About Teleglobe, Inc.

Teleglobe, Inc. (NYSE:TGO)(TSE:TGO) is a leading global provider of broadband services with the most extensive global Internet network. Delivering advanced broadband applications to customers in more than 100 countries - matching global reach with global depth - Teleglobe is the premier communications architecture for the digital economy. Teleglobe is currently enhancing its leadership position through GlobeSystem, a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar strategic initiative providing major markets around the world with scaleable broadband service platforms, and linking them through a seamless data network. For more information, visit http://www.teleglobe.com.

About Altura International and CatalogCity.com

Founded in September 1997, and partially funded by Bill Gates, Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Infospace (NASDAQ:INSP), among others, Altura International, is the leading architect, manager and developer of custom online shopping malls. The Altura Merchant Operating System ("AMOS"), a patent-pending proprietary technology, powers CatalogCity.com, its flagship catalog shopping portal and other custom-built Web shopping malls. Building on the strengths of its technology and partnerships with hundreds of top name brand merchants, Altura brings buyers and seller together, and creates a compelling shopping experience for the consumer.

Altura International is a privately held company and is headquartered in Monterey, Calif. More information can be found by visiting the company's Web site at http://www.altura.com and the flagship mall site at http://www.catalogcity.com.