GTE Northwest, taking advantage of a telecommunications reform bill passed by Congress earlier this year, is entering the long-distance telephone market in Washington state.

GTE Northwest, which has its headquarters in Everett and serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California, has traditionally provided local and regional phone service. Wednesday it joined long-distance companies such as AT&T and MCI in offering national and international service to all Washington customers.

GTE is also preparing a new package called “FlexMail” that would create a one-stop method for leaving voice, fax and e-mail messages in a single mailbox.