To: Editors, News Directors

Date: March 29, 2004

For: Immediate Release

EZ Talk Customers Must Choose New Carrier
Company to Abandon Service as a Result of Bankruptcy

PHOENIX – A bankruptcy filing by a competitive phone service provider will force Arizona customers to choose a new phone company by April 15, 2004 or face the possibility that they will have no dial tone after the 15^th. EZ Talk provides telephone service to approximately 185 customers in the Phoenix area and portions of southern and central Arizona.

EZ Talk filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy affecting customers in Arizona and several other states.

EZ Talk was providing services to customers over phone lines it leased from Qwest Corporation. Qwest is continuing to provide service in the interim but, because EZ Talk owes Qwest money and Qwest is unlikely to receive payment from EZ Talk, customers are being advised to choose a new phone service provider before April 15, 2004. Customers who do not choose a new phone service provider will not have service after April 15, 2004.

If EZ Talk is also providing long-distance service or Internet access to customers, those customers may need to choose a new provider for those services as well.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is sometimes referred to as "liquidation bankruptcy" because a plan of repayment of debts is not required. Essentially, the filer (EZ Talk) contemplates an end to business and asks the bankruptcy court to discharge its debts. If tangible assets can be recovered and sold, proceeds from those sales would go back to the debtors. A number of phone companies throughout the United States leased portions of their network to EZ Talk. Arizona Corporation Commission staff members believe that companies like SBC Communications and Qwest, which leased lines to EZ Talk, could face million dollar losses as a result of the bankruptcy filing.

The Arizona Corporation Commission became aware of EZ Talk’s bankruptcy filing when a local grocery chain stopped accepting payments from EZ Talk customers. Two customers were told that the company had filed for bankruptcy and the groceries would no longer accept payment. Upon further investigation, Commission staff members learned that phone numbers and e-mail addresses contained in the company’s regulatory filings are no longer in service.

The Arizona Corporation Commission is attempting to notify all EZ Talk customers by mail and has supplied a list of Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) to EZ Talk customers to assist customers in completing a smooth transition before the deadline.

EZ Talk has customers in the following communities: Apache Junction, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tucson, Sierra Vista, Casa Grande, Huachuca City, Eloy, Queen Creek, Oro Valley, Douglas, Tombstone, Arizona City, Marana, Sahuarita, Coolidge, Mammoth, Maricopa and Tonopah.