PRESS RELEASE

Telegroup Appoints Two Vice Presidents

Gene Silverman To Head Direct Marketing and Gail Sancartier Named VP of Carrier Relations

FAIRFIELD, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 1998--Telegroup(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:TGRP - news), a leading global telecommunications provider, announced today the appointments of Gene Silverman as vice president of Direct Marketing and Gail Sancartier as vice president of Carrier Relations. These appointment are part of Telegroup's ongoing efforts to expand its retail customer base and strengthen carrier relationships.

``Gene and Gail bring a wealth of talent and experience to their new positions at Telegroup. Gene's direct marketing expertise and strong leadership skills will serve us well as we continue to build our global presence, and Gail brings us significant telecommunications sales experience along with a stellar track record during her past year as Telegroup's director of Carrier Services,'' said Cliff Rees, CEO of Telegroup. ``We are very pleased to have Gene and Gail join Telegroup's management team.''

As vice president of Direct Marketing, Gene Silverman is responsible for overseeing all worldwide direct marketing activities at Telegroup. For the past 9 years, Silverman served as president of Hawthorne Direct, a direct television advertising agency. While there, he worked on a variety of accounts, including Time-Life, Apple, Nissan and Dean Witter Discover Card. Prior to that, Silverman was the marketing director for Nature's Secrets, a direct marketing company, specializing in health-related products.

Since joining Telegroup in 1997, Gail Sancartier has established and managed many of Telegroup's crucial sales and operational processes. In her new role as vice president of Carrier Relations, Sancartier is responsible for North American revenue and retention and Global Carrier Services operations, administration and finance. Sancartier will also focus on developing improved buying procedures, provisioning and least cost routing efficiencies.

Sancartier began her telecommunications sales career at Cable and Wireless, Inc.'s Toronto office as a major accounts coordinator, and was quickly promoted to national technical trainer. While there, Sancartier created training procedures and presentations for sales offices. She then moved on to Sprint Canada, where as district manager she was responsible for opening sales offices throughout Canada, and was eventually named director of Sales for Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1996. Sancartier will continue to be based in Telegroup's San Francisco office.

Telegroup is a leading global carrier of long distance telecommunications services to over 200 countries. Telegroup offers services to small- and medium-sized businesses and residential customers. The company also provides value-added wholesale services to over 40 domestic and international telecommunications carriers. Telegroup is recognized as having one of the most comprehensive global sales, marketing, and customer service organizations of the emerging multinational carriers. The company operates a digital, facilities-based network, the Telegroup Intelligent Global Network(R), which consists of a central operating center, twenty-one switches, five enhanced service platforms, owned or leased capacity on ten digital fiber-optic cable links, and leased parallel data transmission capacity. Telegroup had revenues of $337 million in 1997.

Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains statements which are not historical facts and may be considered forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including potential success of the new officers and achievement of Telegroup's business plan. Telegroup's actual results might differ materially due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the Company's success in developing its business plan, and acquiring additional financing needed to meet this plan, foreign currency fluctuations, termination of certain operating agreements, and changes in tax law. Those and other risks are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

     Telegroup Inc., Fairfield
     Steve Hutchins, 515/472-5000
     shutchins@telegroup.com
          or
     Analysts/Investors Contact:
     Telegroup Inc., Fairfield
     Douglas A. Neish, Chief Financial Officer, 515/472-5000
     dneish@telegroup.com