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ENGLEWOOD, CO, April 27, 1999 - Rhythms NetConnections Inc.'s (Nasdaq: RTHM) wholly owned subsidiary ACI Corp. today received an interim order from the Texas Public Utility Commission which allows ACI to begin offering DSL-based services in Texas within 60 days. This extraordinary relief was granted at the request of ACI.

The Texas PUC's interim order requires Southwestern Bell Telephone Company to begin compliance immediately with the cageless collocation requirements of the FCC's recent Advanced Services Order (FCC 99-48). The interim order requires SWBT to provision cageless collocation (an efficient, cost-effective type of collocation that treats ACI's equipment the same as SWBT's equipment) to ACI in SWBT's Texas central offices within 60 calendar days of a request from ACI. Numerous pending ACI collocation requests will be provisioned under this rule. SWBT is also required to accept and process ACI's orders for unbundled loops and transport. ACI will use these collocations and unbundled elements to provide the DSL services Rhythms incorporates into its extended networking applications. Taken together, the provisions of the interim order remove the roadblocks that have delayed Rhythms entry into the Texas market.

The Texas PUC issued its interim order in the context of an ongoing arbitration between ACI and SWBT that is being conducted under the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. ACI filed its request for arbitration to improve the terms for collocation and unbundled network elements that ACI uses to provision its DSL services.

The Texas PUC's interim order will allow Rhythms to bring the benefits of its advanced high-speed access services to consumers throughout Texas without further delay, and will implement several of the key provisions of the FCC's Advanced Services Order. Decisions like these will enable consumers throughout Texas and the rest of the nation to receive the innovation that Rhythms ACI group is bringing to the market.

Rhythms provides managed network services for business users, based on "always on," high-speed DSL access via local connections ranging in speeds from 128 kbps to 7 Mbps (approximately 125 times the speed of today's fastest dial-up modem).

About Rhythms

Rhythms NetConnections, Inc. is an Englewood, Colorado-based business with commercial services in San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland/East Bay, San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, Chicago, Boston and New York. The company is a provider of networking solutions for businesses, using DSL technology to provide high-speed remote access to private networks and the Internet. Telecommunications services for Rhythms are provided by ACI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rhythms. For more information, call 1-800-RHYTHMS (800-749-8467) or visit the Web site at http://www.rhythms.com/.

Public Relations Agency

Steve Kleine
Access Communications
(415) 904-7070 x211
skleine@accesspr.com

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The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, demand and competition for the services and the products to be sold by Rhythms NetConnections, the continued availability of adequate financing to support its activities, the timing of rollouts in additional regions, the number of potential customers who could access its services, and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

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