3rd Qtr & 9 Mths Rslts - Strong Q3 -Part 1

GTE CORPORATION
21 October 1999


PART ONE
                                 
Media Contact:
Nancy Bavec, 972/507-6913 (After 6:30 p.m. CDT 800-759-4726)
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                    GTE Remains on Target with
       Third Quarter Earnings per Share Growth of 14 Percent

IRVING, Texas -- GTE Corporation reported strong third quarter
1999 financial results, with earnings per share (EPS) from
consolidated operations of 97 cents, an increase of 14 percent
over the year-ago quarter, on net income of $952 million. These
results exclude a net after-tax gain of $416 million or 42 cents
per share, primarily from the sale of its Government Systems
business unit.  Including this gain, net income was $1.4 billion
with EPS of $1.39.  Consolidated revenue was $6.4 billion in the
third quarter compared to adjusted revenue of $6 billion in the
third quarter of 1998, an increase of 8 percent.  (Reported and
adjusted results are described in the associated financial
statements and accompanying notes.)

GTE Chairman and CEO Charles R. Lee said, 'Our financial
performance in the third quarter was excellent.  Our business
expanded profitably with 8 percent revenue growth and EPS growth
of 14 percent, while we implemented our ongoing cost containment
measures. We are on track to deliver our targeted earnings growth
in the 13-15 percent range.

'The third quarter is evidence that we continue to make
significant progress in our drive to transform GTE into a tier one
growth company in our industry,' noted said Mr. Lee.  During the
quarter, GTE completed the sale of substantially all of its
Government Systems business to General Dynamics and reached
additional agreements for the previously announced sale of non--
strategic wireline properties.

To date, GTE has entered into agreements for the sale of 1.4
million access lines of the original 1.6 million to be sold.  'As
we near completion of our repositioning effort, I am pleased with
the excellent prices the buyers have agreed to pay for these
properties, exceeding our expectations and allowing us to generate
after-tax proceeds in excess of $4 billion once the transactions
are complete.  These funds will be used to invest in higher growth
Internet, data and cellular wireless businesses,' said Mr. Lee.

On October 8, GTE completed its previously announced acquisition
of the Ameritech Cellular wireless properties located primarily in
the Chicago and St. Louis areas.  'Once our merger with Bell
Atlantic is completed, our wireless properties will complement the
new national business being created by Bell Atlantic and Vodafone
AirTouch, creating the nation's premium premier wireless company,'
he said.

On GTE's merger with Bell Atlantic, Mr. Lee noted that progress
toward its completion is gaining momentum.  'Bell Atlantic's
application to the FCC to provide long long-distance services in
New York is critical because it accelerates our ability to work
with the FCC to get our merger approved, which we expect to occur
in the first quarter 2000.'  Earlier this week, the New York
Public Service Commission gave its full support to Bell Atlantic's
FCC filing.

Consolidated Results

In the third quarter, consolidated revenue increased $464 million
or 8 percent over adjusted revenue in the third quarter of 1998.
Major contributors to this revenue growth include:

-    Internetworking data revenue growth of $134 million or 89
     percent;
-    Long distance, video and CLEC revenue growth of $110 million
     or 39 percent;
-    International consolidated revenue growth of $76 million or
     19 percent, with proportionate revenue growth of $230 million
     or 31 percent;
-    Network Services data revenue growth of $74 million or 30
     percent;
-    Wireless revenue growth of $92 163 million or 21 percent (11
     percent, normalizing for incollect revenue recognition);
-    Consumer vertical services Revenue revenue growth of 14
     percent from consumer vertical services, products such as
     Caller ID;

-    Continued customer growth, including:
                        Total as of  Increaseover    Percent
                            9/30/99       last 12   Increase
                                           months
      Global access      28,622,000     2,762,000    10 11 %
      lines*
      Global                                                
      wireless            6,805,000     1,292,000    19 23 %
      customers*
      Long distance       3,195,000    680679,000       27 %
      CLEC bundles          239,000       167,000      232 %
      Video                 117,000        21,000       22 %
      ADSL                   35,000        35,000          -

* Represents domestic totals plus international proportionate
access lines and wireless customers.  All other statistics U.S.
only.

In the quarter, consolidated adjusted operating income was $1.7
billion, an increase of $181 million or 12 percent over the same
quarter last year.  The increase resulted from revenue growth and
the favorable effects of continuing cost-cutting initiatives.
Operating income includes the losses associated with GTE's
continuing investments in its data and competitive local exchange
company (CLEC) initiatives.

National Operations

GTE's national operations generated adjusted operating income of
$1.5 billion in the third quarter, an increase of $83 million over
the same quarter last year.  National operations revenue increased
$416 million to $6 billion over the same period.  The major
business units delivering these results include:

Network Services

Revenues in the third quarter at Network Services of $3.9 billion
were equal to the same quarter last year, partially due to the
unfavorable impact of directory publication timing differences and
certain regulatory issues recorded in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding these items, revenue increased 2 percent, consistent
with the growth experienced in the last two quarters.  Revenue
increases from growth in access lines, minutes of use, data
services and vertical services were offset by mandated price
reductions and intraLATA toll erosion.

In the third quarter, data services revenue of $322 million grew
by $74 million or 30 percent from the third quarter of 1998.  Data
services revenue includes special access data lines, frame relay,
CyberPOP and ADSL.

In July, GTE introduced a new ADSL package called Bronze Plus that
includes GTE's Internet access service at transmission speeds up
to 768 kilobits per second for $49.95 a month.  By the end of the
year, ADSL will be available from more than 550 central offices,
representing approximately 6 million qualified lines or 30 percent
of the company's total switched access lines.  At the end of the
quarter, the company had more than 35,000 ADSL subscribers.

Over the past 12 months, total access lines grew 10 percent,
fueled by business switched access line growth of 8 percent and
special access line growth of 39 percent.  The strong growth in
access lines reflects the underlying economic strength of the
company's wireline markets.  Minutes of use were up 7 percent
compared to the same quarter last year.  Through successful
promotions, the consumer vertical services revenue growth rate in
the third quarter has increased in from the last two quarters to
the current 14 percent.

Offsetting the revenue increases were mandated federal and state
price reductions of approximately $59 million in the quarter and
approximately $319 million over the past
12 months.  In addition, toll revenue decreased $43 million or 21
percent largely due to intraLATA toll competition from long-
distance carriers.  GTE has successfully limited competitive
losses in its local market, losing to resale approximately
283324,000 or 1 percent of the company's 25.4 million domestic
access lines.  Moreover, of these, approximately over half were
resold through GTE's CLEC.

Operating income at Network Services was $1.5 billion, an increase
of $218 million or 17 percent over the same quarter last year.
Continuing cost-cutting initiatives, including the favorable
settlement of employee benefit obligations resulting from the
employee reduction program that was initiated in the first quarter
of 1999, have eased cost pressures from access line growth and
other cost of service increases.

Wireless Products and Services

In the first quarter of this year, GTE introduced its flat-rate,
expanded footprint GTE CHOICE pricing plans, targeting high-value
customers and positioning the company as a national competitor.
Favorable customer response to the GTE CHOICE plans has generated
increased revenue, higher customer growth, and sustained average
revenue per user per month.

Third quarter Wireless revenues were $945 million with gross
customer additions increasing 33 percent and net customer
additions of 169,000, orincreasing 135 percent, higher than over
the same period last year.  Wireless subscribers increased by
511,000, an 11 percent gain over the year-ago quarter.  Average
revenue per user per month held steady at $48 per month as a
result of the appeal and structure of the GTE CHOICE plans with
their bundled-minute roaming options.

A short-term effect of the success of GTE's expanded footprint
plans has been an been increase in roaming costs as well as
additional customer acquisition expenses, which have impacted
profit margins in the quarter.  As a result of these increased
costs, operating cash flow decreased by $51 million or 18 percent
in the third quarter to $238 million.  GTE expects these roaming
costs to significantly decline as the company gains a broader
national footprint through previously announced strategic actions,
and takes advantage of the new generation of CDMA phones that
improve flexibility by enabling providers to switch roaming
partners more quickly.  Furthermore, excluding roaming costs,
ongoing process and productivity improvements continue to improve
Wireless' cost profile, with operating expense per customer
dropping to $25 per month in the quarter compared to an average of
$29 per month in 1998.

Internetworking

Internetworking revenue was $285 million in the third quarter, an
increase of $134 million or 89 percent from the same quarter last
year.

Revenue from business services, which include Web hosting, virtual
private networks and e-business, increased 82 percent from the
third quarter last year.  In September, GTE introduced BizConnect,
a new service that provides small and medium businesses fully-
managed dedicated Internet access service with T-1 speeds for up
to 40 percent less than comparable services.

Revenues from networking services provided to on-line and Internet
service providers increased over 50 percent from the year-ago
quarter.  In addition, GTE's national fiber network increased
revenue 53 percent in the third quarter from both wholesale
customers and voice and data traffic migrated from GTE's other
business units.  Revenue from GTE's consumer ISP, GTE.net,
increased 48 percent over the year-ago quarter.

Internetworking revenue does not include data revenue from other
business units, such as traditional data circuits, CyberPOP and
ADSL sold by Network Services.  Combined data revenue from all
business units increased to $653 million in the quarter, providing
annualized data revenue of $2.6 billion.

The operating loss from Internetworking in the third quarter of
$142 million increased $32 million from the same quarter last year
due to increased depreciation of the national fiber network,
acquisition costs from a growing customer base and start-up costs
associated with new service offerings.

Other National Operations

Third quarter revenue for GTE's CLEC, long-distance, video and
large business accounts was $391 million, an increase of $110
million or 39 percent from the same quarter last year.  This
revenue growth was driven in part by a 27 percent increase in the
number of long-distance customers over the past 12 months, ending
the quarter with 3.2 million customers.  By the end of the
quarter, GTE's CLEC had achieved a new milestone of
239,000 customers of bundled telecommunication services.  GTE's
basic bundle, called GTE Unlimited, includes local, long-distance
and vertical services, such as call waiting or and Caller ID,
while  enhanced bundles include Internet access and wireless
services.

International Operations

International operations net income for the third quarter was $144
million, an increase of 26 percent from the same quarter last
year.  Proportionate revenues grew to $981 million in the quarter,
an increase of $230 million or 31 percent from the same quarter
last year.  GTE's investment in the Puerto Rico Telephone Company
and continued customer growth throughout the Latin American and
Asian markets contributed to this increase.  Strong demand for
prepaid wireless services in Latin America and rapid growth of the
Taiwan cellular wireless operations, which surpassed the 2 million
-customer mark in less than two years after start-up, contributed
to a 94 percent increase in proportionate wireless customers from
the same quarter last year.

During the quarter, GTE continued its integration of the Puerto
Rico Telephone Company, leveraging GTE systems and processes.
Examples include implementation Implementation of a new cellular
wireless billing system, a pilot program for service order systems
which, when fully implemented, is expected to reduce order entry
call time up to 30 percent and the expansion to off-island long-
distance services are but a few of the initiatives implemented.
In Argentina, construction commenced on the Buenos Aires PCS
cellularwireless network, which is expected to be operational
during the first quarter of 2000.

About GTE

With 1998 revenue of more than $25 billion, GTE is a leading
telecommunications provider with one of the industry's broadest
arrays of products and services.  In the United States, GTE
provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in 18
states, as well as nationwide long-distance, directory, and
internetworking services ranging from dial-up Internet access for
residential and small-business consumers to Web-based applications
for Fortune 500 companies.  Outside the United States, the company
serves customers on five continents.


Note:  All references above to earnings per share (EPS) reflect
diluted earnings per share.

A copy of this release and associated tables can be found on the
Internet at www.gte.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements.  For each
of these statements, GTE claims the protection of the safe harbor
for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  If future events and actual
performance differ materially from GTE's assumptions, actual
results could vary significantly from the performance projected in
these forward-looking statements.

The following important factors could affect future results and
could cause those results to differ materially from those
expressed in this announcement: materially adverse changes in
economic conditions in the markets served by us or by companies in
which we have substantial investments; material changes in
available technology; the final outcome of federal, state, and
local regulatory initiatives and proceedings, including
arbitration proceedings, and judicial review of those initiatives
and proceedings, pertaining to, among other matters, the terms of
interconnection, access charges, universal service, and unbundled
network element and resale rates; the extent, timing, success, and
overall effects of competition from others in the local telephone
and toll service markets; the success of our efforts to expand its
service capability in the data communication, long-distance and
enhanced services segments of the telecommunications marketplace
and to provide a bundle of products and services both in and
outside of its traditional service territories; the success and
expense of our remediation efforts and those of our suppliers,
customers, joint ventures, noncontrolled investments, and
interconnecting carriers in achieving Year 2000 compliance; the
timing of, and regulatory or other conditions associated with, the
completion of our merger with Bell Atlantic and our ability to
combine operations and obtain revenue enhancements and cost
savings following the merger; and the timing of, and regulatory or
other conditions associated with, the completion of the wireless
joint venture between Bell Atlantic Corporation and Vodafone
AirTouch Plc, and the ability of the new wireless enterprise to
combine operations and obtain revenue enhancements and cost
savings.

GTE's Current Report on Form 8-K dated September 21, 1999 and
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1999 discuss in
greater detail the important factors that could cause its actual
results to differ materially.


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