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                                                                     Exhibit 99

     CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR PURPOSES OF THE "SAFE HARBOR" PROVISION OF THE
                PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report on Form 10-K and other documents filed by HTC under the federal
securities laws, including Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, and future oral or written
statements by HTC and its management, may include forward-looking statements.
These statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to
anticipated future operating and financial performance, growth opportunities
and growth rates, acquisition and divestiture opportunities, business
strategies, business and competitive outlook and other similar forecasts and
statements of expectation. Words such as expects, anticipates, intends,
plans, believes, seeks, estimates and should and variations of these words
and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties that
could cause HTC's actual results to differ materially from such statements.

Uncertainties causing differing results from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those
uncertainties set forth below:

-    The effects of on-going deregulation in the telecommunications industry as
     a result of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the
     "Telecommunications Act") (which allows competition among telephone
     companies for the rights to offer telephone service to customers in a
     franchised service area) and other similar federal and state legislation
     and regulations, including, without limitation, (i) greater than
     anticipated competition in HTC's predominately rural local exchange
     telephone markets, (ii) greater than anticipated reductions in revenues
     received from federal and state access charges for switching long distance
     traffic, (iii) the final outcome of regulatory and judicial proceedings
     with respect to interconnection agreements and access charge reforms, and
     (iv) future state regulatory actions taken in response to the
     Telecommunications Act.

-    HTC's ability to successfully introduce new products and services,
     including, without limitation, (i) the ability of Crystal (which started
     its competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) business in January 1998) to
     provide competitive local service in new markets, (ii) the ability of NIBI
     (which is a billing and data services company) to implement, market, and
     sell its new WRITE2k billing system, (iii) the ability of MSWC (a cellular
     telephone company purchased in May 1998) to successfully implement, market,
     and sell its new digital wireless network products and service, (iv) the
     ability of HTC to offer bundled service packages on terms attractive to its
     customers, (v) the ability of HTC to expand successfully its long distance
     and Internet offerings to new markets and (vi) the ability of HTC to
     introduce and sell the equipment and systems of Nortel, Bay Networks, Octel
     and Cisco versus the competitive alternatives of other suppliers.

-    Possible changes in the demand for HTC's products and services, including,
     without limitation, lower than anticipated demand for, (i) premium
     telephone services, additional access lines per household or minutes of use
     volume associated with telephone service, (ii) wireless telephone service,
     installations and/or the traffic associated with service, (iii) data
     processing services or billing systems, and (iv) communication and data
     equipment.

-    The effects of greater than anticipated competition, including, without
     limitation, competition requiring new pricing or marketing strategies or
     new product offerings, the attendant risk that HTC will not be able to
     respond on a timely or profitable basis and the competitive effect of
     relationships with other carriers causing new pricing on services such as
     wireless roaming agreements and interexchange access charges.

-    The risks inherent in rapid technological change, including, without
     limitation, the risk that

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     technologies will not be procured by HTC on a timely or cost-effective
     basis or perform according to expectations.

-    Regulatory limits on HTC's ability to change its prices for telephone
     services in response to competitive pressures.

-    HTC's ability to effectively manage its growth, including, without
     limitation, HTC's ability to (i) integrate the operations of Crystal and
     MSWC into HTC's operations, (ii) manage NIBI's development of and migration
     to WRITE2k as its new primary software platform, (iii) achieve projected
     economies of scale and cost savings, (iv) meet pro forma cash flow
     projections developed by management in valuing newly-acquired businesses,
     (v) conform with existing debt covenants and negotiate new debt facilities
     which conform with evolving business plans and (vi) implement necessary
     internal controls and retain and attract key personnel.

-    Any difficulties in HTC's ability to expand through additional
     acquisitions, whether caused by financing constraints, a decrease in the
     pool of attractive target companies, or competition for acquisitions from
     other interested buyers.

-    The lack of assurance that HTC can compete effectively against superior
     capitalized competitors or competitors with a larger national or regional
     market niche.

-    The effects of more general factors, including, without limitation:

         - Changes in general industry and market conditions and growth rates.
         - Changes in interest rates or other general national, regional, or
           local economic conditions.
         - Changes in legislation, regulation or public policy.
         - Unanticipated increases in capital, operating or administrative
           costs, or the impact of new business opportunities requiring
           significant up-front investments.
         - The continued availability of financing in amounts, terms and
           conditions necessary to support HTC's operations.
         - Changes in HTC's relationships with vendors.
         - Changes in HTC's debt ratios and the resultant effect on debt
           ratings.
         - Unfavorable outcomes of regulatory or legal proceedings.
         - Changes in accounting policies or practices adopted voluntarily or as
           required by generally accepted accounting principles.

Due to the uncertainties listed above and the fact that any forward-looking
statements by HTC and its management are based on estimates, projections,
beliefs and assumptions of management and are not guarantees of future
performance, HTC disclaims any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements based on the occurrence of future events, the
receipt of new information, or otherwise.

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