866 Joins Family of Active Toll-Free Area Codes,
Spurred By Continued Explosive Growth of Service

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T (NYSE: T) today announced that the continued explosive demand for the toll-free services it invented nearly 35 years ago has prompted the addition of a new toll-free exchange, with this week marking the first use of the "866" code that the Federal Communications Commission ordered put into service effective Saturday.

This addition brings the total of operating toll-free area codes to four. The original toll-free exchange -- 800 -- lasted 29 years after AT&T introduced the new way of calling in 1967. Next came 888, which went into service in March 1996, and then 877, which debuted in April 1998. Each area code contains nearly 8 million valid phone numbers.

"We hardly envisioned revolutionizing the way business gets done when we first introduced the service," says Roy Weber, an AT&T Labs Research Director. "Yet it has done just that, when you consider it's spawned new industries like catalog shopping, and has become synonymous with smart customer service for companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to home-based businesses." Weber, who was part of AT&T Bell Laboratories, invented the "smart" network that paved the way for everything from advanced 800 service to electronic storefronts to online customer service centers.

AT&T Toll Free Service was originally designed to relieve the burden of operators handling collect calls to businesses. Last year, AT&T carried about 30 billion toll-free calls, accounting for approximately 40 percent of all voice calls crossing the AT&T U.S. network.

"Toll-free numbers are more important than ever in today's electronic economy," Weber says. "The proliferation of new 'dot.com' businesses is helping fuel growth in toll-free. It's the combination of a Web site and a toll-free number that gives the cyber-entrepreneur a global, electronic storefront. And as we continue to marry the power of the Web with the ease of use and ubiquity of the phone, toll-free will play a major role. For example, through our strategic relationship with Tellme Networks, customers use toll-free service for access to voice-activated Internet services."

Numbers in the 866 exchange are being assigned to customers on a first-come, first-served basis by a central data base that services the entire industry to ensure requests for specific numbers are treated in a fair and neutral manner.

AT&T has been gathering requests from customers for 866 numbers since March 1. At the rate of current consumption, 866 -- plus the 855 toll-free exchange that's scheduled to go into service in November -- should meet the industry's need for toll-free numbers until sometime in 2004. The code 844 would be the next to be put into service.

Customers interested in requesting an 866 number should talk to their AT&T account executive or call 1-800-222-0400. More information also is available at http://www.att.com/tollfree.

The Growth of Toll-Free Service

From its humble beginning as interstate "INWARD WATS" 33 years ago, toll-free calling has become an indispensable part of American life -- for consumers as well as businesses.

Toll-free usage has steadily climbed since it was introduced in 1967, when 7 million calls were recorded. Last year, AT&T carried about 30 billion toll-free calls, accounting for approximately 40 percent of all voice calls crossing the AT&T U.S. network.

Toll-free service was conceived as a means for large businesses to pay for direct-dialed calls from major customers and suppliers. But when coupled with key technological advances and mass advertising campaigns, toll-free service took off. The creation of computerized data bases within AT&T's long-distance network in the 1980s enabled businesses to use -- and promote -- a single nationwide toll-free number, instead of different numbers in different states. Almost overnight it became smart business to include a toll-free number in national television or print advertising. The advertising fueled consumer awareness of toll-free numbers, which -- over time -- grew into an expectation that companies wanting business will provide a toll-free number.

For nearly three decades, toll-free service was known by the reliable "800" dialing prefix. However, as the popularity of toll-free service exploded, the industry added the "888" and "877" prefixes to make more numbers available.

About AT&T

AT&T Corp. (http://www.att.com) is among the world's premier voice, video and data communications companies, serving more than 80 million customers, including consumers, businesses and government. With annual revenues of more than $62 billion and 145,000 employees, AT&T provides services to customers worldwide. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company runs the world's largest, most sophisticated communications network and has one of the largest digital wireless networks in North America. The company is a leading supplier of data and Internet services for businesses and offers outsourcing, consulting and networking-integration to large businesses. It is also one of the largest Internet service providers for consumers in the U.S. Through its recent cable acquisitions, AT&T will bring its bundle of broadband video, voice and data services to customers throughout the United States. Internationally, Concert, the AT&T/BT Global Venture, serves the communications needs of multinational companies and international carriers worldwide.

SOURCE AT&T Corp.