FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

         COVISTA COMMUNICATIONS, INC. INTENDS TO DEREGISTER COMMON STOCK

CHATTANOOGA, TN - May 27, 2005 - Covista Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ symbol:
CVST) today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has unanimously
approved the voluntary delisting of the Company's common stock from the NASDAQ
National Market. Simultaneously with the delisting, the Company will file a Form
15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to deregister its common
stock and suspend its reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (the "Exchange Act").

The Company intends to delist its common stock and file the Form 15 with the SEC
on or about June 30, 2005. Upon the delisting from NASDAQ, the Company's common
stock will no longer trade on the NASDAQ National Market. The Company expects
that the deregistration from the Exchange Act will become effective 90 days
after filing of the Form 15.

The Company intends to file a Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2005
with the SEC prior to the scheduled due date of June 15, 2005. However, the
Company's future reporting obligations to file periodic and current reports such
as 10-K's, 10-Q's and 8-K's with the SEC will be suspended immediately upon
filing of the Form 15.

The Company anticipates that after the delisting from the NASDAQ National Market
that its common stock would be quoted in the "Pink Sheets" (WWW.PINKSHEETS.COM),
an electronic quotation service for over-the-counter securities, but only to the
extent that market makers decide to make a market in the Company's shares. While
the Company currently intends to provide market makers information necessary for
the Company's shares to be quoted in the Pink Sheets, there can be no assurance
that market makers will quote the Company's shares or that an active trading
market will ever develop. The Company's stock has had limited trading on the
NASDAQ National Market. Typically there is less liquidity and greater price
volatility in the Pink Sheets as compared to the NASDAQ National Market.

The members of the Company's Board of Directors carefully evaluated whether
remaining a NASDAQ National Market quoted company warranted the significant
costs and expenses and loss of operational productivity related to the
regulatory burdens of being an Exchange Act registered public company as well as
the potential benefits of remaining in the current status. The Company's
out-of-pocket costs attributable to being a public company for the most recent
fiscal year ending January 31, 2005 were in excess of $500,000 and such costs
are expected to rise substantially to comply with new regulatory requirements.
These costs do not take into account the time the Company's employees were
required to devote to public company reporting and compliance obligations. The
Board of Directors unanimously determined that the disadvantages significantly
outweighed the potential advantages of remaining as the Company now is and
concluded that it was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders
to delist and deregister. After completing this process, the Company will be
able to better focus its attention on improving operations, implementing cost
reduction and cost containment initiatives, attaining profitability and meeting
long term business goals. The Company, depending upon, among other matters,
future operating results and the regulatory environment, may consider a future
listing on the NASDAQ market. However, no assurance can be given that this will
occur.


About Covista:

Covista is a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services with a
substantial customer base, principally residential and small sized businesses.
Its products and services include a broad range of voice, data and Internet
solutions, including long distance and toll-free services, local dial tone and
features, calling cards, frame relay, Internet access, VPN, directory assistance
and teleconferencing services. Covista currently owns and operates switches in
Chattanooga,




Dallas and Minneapolis. Covista operates Network Operation, call center and
information technology facilities in Chattanooga to monitor its switched network
and to coordinate its various services. For information on becoming a Covista
customer, please telephone 800-805-1000 or visit the Company's website at
www.covista.com.

Information relating to forward-looking statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the private securities litigation act of 1995, including
statements that the Company expects its common stock to be traded on the Pink
Sheets and that deregistration will reduce costs and allow the Company to
increase its efforts with respect to other matters. Investors are cautioned that
forward-looking statements such as statements of the company's plans,
objectives, expectations and intentions involve risks and uncertainties. The
cautionary statements made in this release should be read as being applicable to
all related statements wherever they appear. Statements containing terms such as
"believes," "expects," "plans," "projects," "intends," "estimates,"
"anticipates," or similar terms, are considered to contain uncertainty and are
forward-looking statements. The actual results could differ materially from
those discussed. Factors that could contribute to such differences include:
changes in market conditions and increased competition from other
telecommunications and internet service providers; government regulations; the
volatile and competitive environment for internet telephony; advances in
competitive products or technologies that could reduce demand for services;
availability of transmission facilities; management of rapid growth; customer
concentration and attrition; the ability to successfully integrate acquired
companies; the ability to successfully develop and bring new services to market;
inaccurate or incomplete assumptions on the part of management; and other risks
discussed in the company's SEC filings, including its form 10-K's, form 10-Q's
and form 8-K's, which can be accessed at the SEC web site at www.sec.gov.

Readers of this release should understand that it is not possible to predict or
identify all such risk factors. Consequently, this list should not be considered
a complete statement of all potential risks or uncertainties. Covista does not
assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as is
required by applicable law.


Contact:
Frank Pazera
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Covista Communications, Inc.
Tel: (423) 648-9500
Fax: (423) 648-9502
E-mail: fpazera@covista.com