GPU Telcom Services, Inc. and ValleyNet to Connect Fiber Optic Networks.

READING, Pa. and WAYNESBORO, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1999--

GPU Telcom Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GPU, Inc. (NYSE: GPU) and ValleyNet, a fiber optic network provider, jointly today announced they have signed an agreement to connect their interstate fiber optic networks. The interconnection is expected to be complete this fall.

GPU Telcom serves Pennsylvania and New Jersey with a 600-mile fiber network and plans to expand by an additional 500 miles later this year. In a separate initiative last month, GPU linked its fiber optic network with three other utility affiliates across nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

ValleyNet provides service to wholesale customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee with an 835-mile fiber network. ValleyNet also has connections to the CFN network serving Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia and to the AEP network serving Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Combined with GPU, this new interconnection will be comprised of 10,000 miles of fiber optic cable and will lease DS-1, DS-3 and higher level SONET communication services in a 14-state region.

The GPU Telcom Services marketing center in Reading, PA and the ValleyNet marketing center in Waynesboro, VA will handle all service and maintenance requests and billing inquiries.

"Customer requirements are expanding and we are growing geographically to meet those needs," said Gene Sandridge, ValleyNet general manager. "This agreement allows GPU, ValleyNet, CFN and AEP to lease capacity services between regions and into areas where it is currently unavailable."

"Our goal is to become the premier fiber optic network provider for tier three and four markets in the Mid-Atlantic Region," said Rick Poore, GPU Telcom Services General Manager. "We will provide these communities the same access to world class global information highways that were previously available only in tier one markets."

Created in 1989, ValleyNet is a partnership comprised of affiliates of CFW Communications Company (NASDAQ: CFWC), R&B Communications Company, Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (OTC: SHET), Sprint Mid Atlantic Operations and Sprint North Central Operations (both NYSE: FON). ValleyNet provides a single point of contact for marketing, operations and maintenance of broadband fiber optic communications services.

GPU Telcom Services, Inc., created in 1996, is a telecommunications infrastructure development and management company. In addition to wholesale broadband carrier services, it also provides local dark fiber distribution networks to carriers' and private networks. GPU Telcom Services is a subsidiary of GPU, Inc., a utility holding company that serves two million customers domestically and nearly four million customers on five continents through its international operations.

For more information, you can contact GPU Telcom Services, Inc. by calling 1-800-261-9826 or visit their web site: www.gputelcom.com. To contact ValleyNet, call 1-540-946-3525 or visit their web site: www.valleynet.com.