VERIZON TO TAKE UNLAWFUL AND UNILATERAL ACTION
AGAINST CLECS IN MARYLAND
-- CoreTel requests immediate review by Maryland PSC
to halt Verizon's actions --

Annapolis, MD, May 31, 2001 -- Core Communications, Inc. ("CoreTel") today filed a petition with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to review threats by Verizon to unilaterally cease adhering to the reciprocal compensation terms of its interconnection agreements with Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) such as CoreTel throughout the State of Maryland.

According to a May 14, 2001 letter sent by Verizon to Annapolis-based CoreTel, Verizon cites the April 17, 2001 FCC Intercarrier Compensation Order adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which revised reciprocal compensation payments for ISP-bound traffic, as a basis for the immediate withholding of previously agreed upon reciprocal compensation payments to CoreTel.

In the letter, Verizon also threatens that "temporary billing difficulties" may also prevent it from making the required payment to CLECs, as spelled out under Verizon's legally required interconnection agreements with CLECs in Maryland.

In CoreTel's "Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling" filed this morning with the Maryland PSC, CoreTel charges that Verizon is attempting to circumvent the procedures established by the Communications Act and the Maryland PSC for amending interconnection agreements with CLECs to reflect changes in law. Currently, changes in telecommunications law and policy are implemented through negotiated amendments to interconnection agreements, which must be approved by the Maryland PSC before taking effect.

In past cases where the FCC has issued rules modifying telecommunications policy, Verizon has consistently required CLECs to go through the interconnection agreement amendment process with Verizon before these changes could take place. Instead of following that well-established policy, Verizon is now attempting to take unilateral action against CLECs, such as CoreTel.

"Verizon's action is all the proof regulators and legislators will need to determine that this is a company that is doing everything in its power to stop telecommunications competition from occurring in the state of Maryland," said Bret Mingo, Chief Executive Officer of CoreTel. "These most recent threats by Verizon to ignore the interconnection amendment process established by federal law and carried out by the Maryland PSC is evidence that Verizon is a company that makes its own rules."

In its Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling filed today with the Maryland PSC, CoreTel requests that the PSC declare that:

• Verizon must negotiate amendments to existing interconnection agreements through the change of law provision in order to avail itself of the FCC Intercarrier Compensation Order;

• Any such amendments must be approved by the Commission in accordance with the Commission's standard procedures for reviewing and approving amendments to existing interconnection agreements; and

• Any effort by Verizon to withhold reciprocal compensation payments for ISP-bound traffic prior to Commission approval of an interconnection agreement amendment constitutes a per se violation of the interconnection agreement and the Commission's orders.

In its petition, CoreTel requests that the declaratory ruling be issued on or before June 14, 2001, the date that the FCC's Intercarrier Compensation Order is scheduled to take effect.

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About Core Communications, Inc.

Core Communications, Inc. ("CoreTel") is a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. CoreTel competes directly with Verizon - Maryland, Inc. and other CLECs in the highly contested data communications marketplace. CoreTel relies on its expertise with integrating the Internet and telephone networks to provide targeted services to data-focused customers. As a CLEC, CoreTel is the product of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which deregulated local exchange telecommunications nationwide, as well as the pro-competition policies of the Maryland Public Service Commission. CoreTel's investors include Charles Ross Partners, LLC. For more information, please visit CoreTel's web site at www.coretel.net.