REVENUES TO INCREASE 50% AS A RESULT OF LARGEST MERGER IN NETWORK LONG DISTANCE HISTORY.

BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1996--Network Long Distance, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTWK) announced today it has signed a letter of intent to merge with United WATS, Inc. (UWI), a move which will increase the consolidated revenues of NTWK by more than 50% -- making this the largest transaction in the history of the Company.

The merger will entail a pooling of interests with UWI, a Kansas City-based inter-exchange carrier which provides domestic and international outbound direct dial (1+), toll free (1-800, 1-888), travel card and ancillary services to approximately 10,000 business customers nationwide.

UWI's annualized revenues exceed $21 million, and it posted a 340% rise in sales last year. UWI's quality base of revenues is characterized by a monthly customer retention rate of 98.13% and bad debt write-offs of less than eight-tenths of one percent. As such, UWI reported increasing profits in each of the past four years.

"This merger represents the largest transaction in our 17 years of business, and is indicative of our ability to carry out larger mergers and acquisitions," said Michael M. Ross, President and Chief Executive Officer of NTWK. "Moreover, the alliance of these two entities will also result in significant additional benefits and synergies."

Ross noted that while NTWK maintains operating flexibility and cost effectiveness through the utilization of its own switching systems -- and affiliations with multiple underlying carriers -- NTWK currently routes most of its calls on fiber optic circuits leased from WilTel (LDDS/WorldCom, Inc.) and AllNet (Frontier Corp.).

UWI, on the other hand, brings to the combined companies its own onging carrier relationships with Sprint and MCI -- two of the largest and most widely-recognized name brands in the long distance industry.

"UWI's carrier relationships with Sprint and MCI should open new windows of opportunity for the combined companies," said Timothy A. Barton, President of UWI. "This will give NTWK's existing sales channels direct access to two very prominent carriers; and it will allow NTWK to approach hundreds of Sprint and MCI-based resellers that it would not have previously targeted as potential merger and acquisition candidates."

As small business customers have traditionally been the focus of NTWK's marketing efforts, synergies will be achieved through the addition of UWI's customer base, more than 98% of which are commercial accounts. In addition, a large percentage of UWI's calling traffic originates from California, New York and Illinois -- which provides a strategic fit with the traffic from NTWK's recent acquisitions of Uni-Net and Quantum (based in California), Westover and Amer-I-Net (in New York), and Value-Tel (headquartered in Illinois).

Network Long Distance, Inc., founded in 1979 (five years prior to the break-up of the Bell System), is one of the nation's fastest growing inter-exchange carriers offering both digital switch-based and switchless fiber optic services to commercial and residential customers, full service agents and other long distance companies. Stock of Network Long Distance trades on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "NTWK."

CONTACT: Network Long Distance, Inc., Baton Rouge

Louis J. Resweber, 504/377-2111 or 800/321-NTWK or

[e-mail] or www.ntwk.net