The category continues to dominate the advertising expenditure figures as the leader in percent growth; the 1997 to 1998 increase was 20.8% - far ahead of the mediocre 8.3% overall ad spending increase seen in 1998. Over the last six years the industry has shown tremendous growth, increasing spending 105.3%, from $1.9 billion in 1994 to $3.9 billion in 1999.

AT&T, behind a 35.3% increase, regained the leaderships spot followed closely by MCI WorldCom which also increased it advertising commitment, albeit by a lesser 13.7%.

A significant change over previous years, Sprint is the only brand name that appears in the top 5 list of category brand spending leaders. MCI WorldCom's 10-10-220 Long Distance Residential service ranks second among all brands in advertising expenditures and MCI's 1-800-Collect ranks fifth; but despite the dollars put behind these products, the parent companies have chosen not to put their own names on the product advertising.

For more information on industry parent and brand leaders, see the attached chart.

Competitive Media Reporting is the leading provider of strategic advertising intelligence, serving advertising agencies, advertisers, broadcasters and publishers. The company's tracking technologies collect occurrence and expenditure data, as well as the creative executions of over 900,000 brands across 15 media. CMR is headquartered in New York City and maintains sales locations in major markets throughout the United States. For further information, visit http://www.cmr.com.

Telecommunications