HickoryTech Announces Agreement to Sell Telephone Exchange in Amana, Iowa.

Business Editors

MANKATO, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2000

Property to be purchased by South Slope

Cooperative Telephone Company, Inc.

HickoryTech, Mankato, (Nasdaq:HTCO), a diversified communications holding company operating in Minnesota and Iowa, today announced plans to sell its local telephone exchange in Amana, Iowa to South Slope Cooperative Telephone Company, Inc. The Amana operation, known as Amana Colonies Telephone Company (ACTC), serves approximately 1,500 access lines in seven geographic communities in Northeastern Iowa known as the Amana Colonies.

"The Amana Colonies Telephone Company has been an excellent part of our core telephone business for seven years," said Robert D. Alton, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO of HickoryTech. HickoryTech acquired the Amana telephone operation in 1994 from the Amana Society, an enterprise operated out of Amana.

Mr. Alton added, "However, due to its size and geographic isolation in relation to our other market opportunities, ACTC no longer fits well with HickoryTech. The local ownership (South Slope is a local member-owned cooperative, owned by those it serves) of the South Slope Cooperative Telephone Company best serves the interest of the customers as well as our employees, which have performed so well for us over the past seven years."

During it's ownership of the Amana Colonies Telephone Company, HickoryTech made improvements to several service components, offering Centrex service, enhanced voicemail and adding fiber optic routes out of the community.

South Slope Cooperative Telephone Co. CEO J.R. Brumley said, "We are pleased to welcome the customers and employees of Amana to the South Slope family. The adjacency of the Amana exchange with our existing service area and the common calling areas will offer great benefits to all of our customers, both new and existing."

Terms of the purchase agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to approval by the Iowa Utilities Board and the Federal Communications Commission. It is estimated that regulatory approval may take seven months and that a transfer will occur in the first quarter of 2001.

HickoryTech Corporation is a diversified communications holding company headquartered in Mankato, Minn. with operations in Minnesota and Iowa. HickoryTech is in its 103rd year of operation with its roots in the local telephone exchange business. From this base, it has expanded into wireless communications, competitive local service, long distance, Internet, information solutions and enterprise solutions. HickoryTech was recently added to the Russell 2000 Index. To learn more about HickoryTech, visit the company's Web page at http://www.hickorytech.com.

Certain statements included in this press release which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry in which HickoryTech operates, management's beliefs and assumptions. The forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and probabilities. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. HickoryTech undertakes no obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements for any reason.