Construction Starts on KPNQwest 'German' EuroRing(TM), Third of

Six Rings Serving 39 Key Business Centres in Europe AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (ots-PRNewswire) - KPNQwest todayannounced that construction has started on the GermanEuroRing(TM); the third of six state-of-the-art OC-192 10 Gbpsself-healing rings being built in Europe by 2001. This investmentof over EUR 200m in German IP infrastructure reinforcesKPNQwest's commitment to meeting the demand for bandwidth inGermany, and further underpins its strategy to service Germanbusinesses needing to realise the potential that high capacityeCommerce applications and other services can provide for them. The early mover in the explosive market for Europeanbandwidth, KPNQwest is poised to deliver the most modern, highcapacity capabilities to meet the surging demand driven by dataand IP services and applications (European countries are forecastto experience 100%+ growth between 1999-2003: source IDC). Whencompleted, the EuroRings(TM) network will provide reliable,scalable, secure and seamless broadband and IP-basedcommunications services to customers, covering a total of 39 keybusiness centres in Europe. The bespoke, wholly owned KPNQwestEuropean network will also be linked to the 29,500 kilometreQwest U.S. network. "With the first two EuroRings(TM) now lit -- on time, onbudget and actively serving customers, we are now aggressivelyfollowing our business plan to provide service in a further ninemarkets by 2000 by starting the construction of our thirdEuroRings(TM). This ring will interconnect to the first two ringsand, as in the case of Rings 1&2, will consist of 96 fibrestrands capable of delivering 80 colors per strand at 10Gbps perstrand. This enormous capacity enables us to service theexplosive market for bandwidth and applications throughout Europeand beyond," said Henjo Groenewegen, chief operating officer ofKPNQwest. Jack McMaster, chief executive officer of KPNQwest added,"With the successful completion this week of the acquisition ofXlink Consulting ISP assets in Germany, the commencement of thisconstruction enables KPNQwest to accelerate our penetration ofthe growing market for data and services in Germany and beyond." The first two EuroRings(TM) now connect a total of 14 Europeanbusiness centres, and the third EuroRings(TM) will bring capacityto a further nine markets in Germany: Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt,Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. In addition to the high-speed capacity of the EuroRings(TM),KPNQwest has, through its EUnet International and Xlink IPbrands, an Internet Service Provider footprint based on nationalbackbones in 14 European markets (Austria, Belgium / Luxembourg,Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Portugal,Romania, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland), with more than 450gateways to the Internet. Together with the peering agreements ofKPNQwest, these assets form a unique, transit-free stronghold inthe IP space. The KPNQwest venture was announced last November and finalizedon April 13, 1999. Analysts estimate that communications servicesin Western Europe, the addressable market for the company, willgrow to about $224 billion by the year 2001. Customers for the company include multi-national and otherfirms worldwide that want integrated voice, data and imagecommunications; and other communications companies that need tobuy wholesale network capacity. Primed and future-proofed for data and IP, services willinclude IP-based voice communications; high-speed Internetaccess; intranets; extranets, and Web hosting; IP-based virtualprivate networks and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and IPtransit services for the wholesale market. About KPNQwest KPNQwest is equally owned by KPN and Qwest CommunicationsInternational Inc., the Internet communications company,headquartered in Denver, Colo. The new company brings togetherthe state-of-the-art fiber-optic networks of the two partners andthe Internet services expertise and customer base of EUnetInternational. The company has 650 employees formerly employed byKPN INS and EUnet International. The company plans to build andoperate a high-capacity European fiber optic, Internet Protocol-based network that has 3,500 kilometers and will span 13,000kilometers when it is completed in 2001. This network willinterconnect with Qwest's 29,500 kilometer fiber-optic network inthe U.S. KPNQwest will offer a full range of broadband and IP-based communications services. For further information please contact: James Doherty KPNQwest -- Media Relations Tel:

+ 31 20 530 5321 Email:

james.doherty@kpnqwest.com This press release is not an offer of securities for sale inthe United States. Securities of KPNQwest may not be offered orsold in the United States absent registration or an exemptionfrom registration. Any public offering of securities of KPNQwestto be made in the United States will be made by means of aprospectus that may be obtained from KPNQwest and that willcontain detailed information about KPNQwest and management, aswell as financial statements. This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Thesestatements may differ materially from actual future events orresults. Important risk factors that could cause actual resultsto differ from those contained in the forward-looking statementsinclude potential fluctuations in quarterly results, dependenceon new product development, rapid technological and marketchange, failure to complete the network on schedule and onbudget, financial risk management and future growth subject torisks, KPNQwest's ability to achieve Year 2000 compliance, andadverse changes in the regulatory or legislative environment.KPNQwest undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts'expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions toany forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstancesafter the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence ofunanticipated events. ots Original Text Service: KPNQwestInternet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: James Dohert, MediaRelations of KPNQwest, 31-20-530-5321, orjames.doherty@kpnqwest.com

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