Advanced Radio Telecom to Provide Unprecedented 100Mbps High Speed Internet Access to San Jose Businesses.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 1999--

Advanced Radio Telecom Corp. (Nasdaq:ARTT) today announced that it will introduce 100Mbps Internet access service to businesses in the San Jose area beginning Sept. 8, 1999, using an unprecedented broadband fixed wireless/fiber network.

Businesses in buildings connected to ART's network will be able to link their local area networks (LANs) directly to the Internet faster, easier and less expensively than with any other Internet access service available today. Internet access via ART's 100Mbps network enables the use of bandwidth intensive applications such as video streaming, large file transfers and real-time interactive collaboration that are difficult to perform using today's bandwidth-constrained local distribution infrastructure.

Businesses in the San Jose area can sign up for ART's 100Mbps Internet Access Service today with a service contract starting at $1,250 per month.

"We are very simply `changing the rules of the game' for high speed data communications," said Henry C. (Harry) Hirsch, ART chairman and CEO. "The world is quickly migrating up the bandwidth ladder as businesses experience the productivity benefits of high speed communications and realize the competitive advantage that it brings. By extending the technology of the fast Ethernet office LAN across its metropolitan area networks (MANs), ART is able to provide its users access to an extremely reliable, unprecedented high speed network for Internet connectivity at a very attractive price."

ART's network features a new broadband wireless radio from Triton Network Systems called Invisible Fiber(TM), as well as Ethernet routing and switching products supplied by Cisco Systems. ART will deploy the Triton Network and Cisco hardware in a self-healing ring architecture that links commercial office buildings together creating a fully redundant network capable of providing 200Mbps of total bandwidth on its bi-directional paths. As a Cisco Powered Network(TM) service provider, ART has worked very closely with Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, in designing and implementing the network. In addition, Wireless Facilities, Inc. (WFI), the leader in broadband wireless network deployments, is providing ART with turnkey network development and deployment services in support of its build out. ART will deploy these networks in the top 40 communications-intensive markets over the next few years.

ART is hosting a demonstration of live applications over its 100Mbps network today and Wednesday in San Jose for invited media and local businesses. Attendees will see the recently announced delivery of Bloomberg Television directly to desktop PCs via GE American Communications' (GE Americom) Broadband IP satellite network and the ART network. As a network supplier to ART, Cisco Systems will demonstrate the quality and reliability of voice calls over the 100 percent Internet Protocol (IP) network, and the ability to watch full-motion video programming coming from an IPTV server in real-time over the network.

"The network is analogous to the national electrical power grid," said Hirsch. "Our network truly provides bandwidth on demand. It's always on, always available and sufficient to satisfy the network users' needs virtually 100 percent of the time. The technology itself is elegant in its simplicity and the quality of the network rivals or exceeds the best of the carrier platforms operating today. Our customers will be able to experience the true power of bandwidth for their businesses, totally circumventing the crippling congestion in the local loop."

ART also has signed a definitive agreement for a $251 million equity investment with Qwest Communications International Inc., and a group of high-tech investment funds -- syndicate leader Oak Investment Partners, MeriTech Capital Partners, Advent International, Accel Partners, Brentwood Venture Capital, Worldview Technology Partners, Bessemer Venture Capital, Adams Capital Management and Columbia Capital. ART has satisfied all closing conditions necessary to complete this latest financing with shareholder approval which is anticipated at the annual meeting to be held on Sept. 8 in Bellevue, Wash.

About ART

Advanced Radio Telecom Corp. (Nasdaq:ARTT), headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., is a provider of broadband wireless access to businesses at speeds up to 100Mbps. In addition to the San Jose network using Triton Network Systems' consecutive point 100 Mbps radios, ART currently owns and operates metropolitan area networks in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Phoenix with plans to expand to 40 of the top 50 U.S. markets in the next few years. ART has a nationwide footprint of 38GHz spectrum licenses in the United States, and owns 26GHz and/or 38GHz spectrum licenses in the United Kingdom and several Scandinavian countries. For more information, please visit ART's web site at www.art-net.net.

The above information includes forward-looking statements regarding commercial services, network deployment and third party services. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including without limitation, failure to consummate the $251 million financing transaction, capital requirements and other financial risks, customer demand, technological risks, the ability to meet financing conditions, management of growth, ability to achieve Year 2000 compliance, competition and government regulation may cause actual results to differ materially from the future results implied or expressed in the forward looking statements. Additional information about the most significant of such factors is set forth in ART's most recent annual report on Form 10-K. The Company does not undertake to update or revise its forward-looking statements publicly even if experience or future changes make clear that any projected results expressed or implied herein will not be realized.