Universal Access Appoints Chief Development Officer To Lead Global Expansion; Global Development Team To Be Based in Chicago, Santa Clara and London.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000

Universal Access, Inc., (Nasdaq: UAXS), a leading Internet infrastructure company, today announced the appointment of George A. King as Chief Development Officer to lead the company's global expansion plans. King and his team will manage the company's strategy development and critical global business initiatives, including the Universal Access rollout in the United States, the expansion of the London office, and additional European business development.

"In addition to recognizing George King's important leadership role, this position highlights our commitment to revolutionize network provisioning within international markets, much like we've done in the U.S.," said Patrick Shutt, president and chief executive officer of Universal Access. "Our unique business model translates well into the fragmented global telecom market environments. By combining information and interconnection facility management, Universal Access provides the only solution in the marketplace today that delivers end-to-end network connections to ISPs, ASPs and TSPs with the speed to market required to support the increasing global bandwidth demand."

The development team possesses a variety of skill sets and expertise, including financial, consulting, accounting, investment banking and telecommunications. The team will be responsible for integrating new companies and partners into Universal Access' business and charged with developing relationships with energy and bandwidth trading firms. The team also will assist in the global build out of Universal Transport Exchanges (UTX) sites, the company's physical network interconnection facilities, and the international development of the Universal Information Exchange (UIX) databases, its proprietary databases containing pricing, location, and circuit availability from more than 60 transport suppliers.

King and his team will be based in Universal Access' Chicago, Santa Clara and London offices. King will report directly to Patrick Shutt.

King joined Universal Access upon its formation in 1997, serving initially as an executive advisor and member of its Board of Directors until February 1999. Most recently he served as the company's senior vice president of corporate development.

King brings to Universal Access an extensive background in law and finance, including experience with the Wall Street law firm Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, and with Credit Suisse First Boston. He later co-founded the investment banking firm of Cambridge Partners and founded Hudson AIPF, a corporate advisory and investment banking firm. King holds an A.B. degree from Colgate University and a J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law.

As a carrier-neutral infrastructure company, Universal Access manages information and physical connection facilities to provide end-to-end global network connectivity faster and more cost-effectively than any one carrier can on their own. By stitching fragmented networks together, Universal Access is creating the ubiquitous infrastructure needed to fuel the Internet growth explosion.

About Universal Access

Headquartered in Chicago, Universal Access provides clients with a single, outsourced, carrier-neutral solution to the challenges they face within a fragmented network services market. Universal Access has partnered with industry leaders including AboveNet, Allied Riser Communications, AT&T, BCE Nexxia, Cable & Wireless, GTEi, MCI WorldCom and UUNET to help build the infrastructure needed to fuel the growth of the Internet.

Universal Access provides the only solution in the marketplace today that delivers end-to-end network connections to ISPs, ASPs, and TSPs with the speed to market required to support the increasingly high global bandwidth demands. By combining information and interconnection facility management, Universal Access is provisioning end-to-end, high-speed network circuits and capacity much more quickly and cost-effectively than their customers are able to do themselves. Two unique strategic pillars enable the unparalleled speed-to-market: the Universal Information Exchange (UIX), a proprietary database containing pricing data and circuit and bandwidth availability for more than 60 transport suppliers, and Universal Transport Exchanges (UTX), physical interconnection facilities that provide the infrastructure needed to connect all of the competing networks together.

For additional information regarding the company, please visit www.universalaccess.net

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding potential strategic initiatives and acquisitions, expansion of international operations and expansion of UTX facilities and UIX databases. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the challenge of integrating acquired businesses, lack of international operating experience, foreign regulatory issues, difficulties in provisioning circuits, the challenge of attracting new clients for UTX services, potential inability to maintain and expand UIX databases, competition in the Company's industry, the difficulty of managing growth of operations, and the need to raise additional capital. For other risks and uncertainties applicable to the company's business refer to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Universal Access assumes no obligations to update the information included in this release. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.