TO BUSINESS EDITOR:

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC) announced today that its cash tender offer to purchase its outstanding Senior Notes (the "Notes") without distinguishing between the issues, closed at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 18, 2003. As of that time, the principal amount of Notes tendered was approximately $75.2 million. The company will pay the aggregate purchase price including accrued interest through August 19, 2003, approximately $28.4 million, to the depositary for those Notes accepted for payment on Wednesday, August 20, 2003.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley and Greenhill & Co., LLC are the dealer managers, HSBC Bank USA is the depositary and D.F. King & Co, Inc. is the Information Agent in connection with the tender offer.

About RCN Corporation

RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC) is the nation's first and largest facilities-based competitive provider of bundled phone, cable and high-speed Internet services delivered over its own fiber-optic local network to consumers in the most densely populated markets in the U.S. RCN has more than one million customer connections and provides service in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. metropolitan markets.

RCN Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements made by RCN in these statements are forward-looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. RCN believes that the primary factors include, but are not limited to, availability of financing, ability to obtain regulatory approvals, uncertainty relating to economic conditions, ability to attract and retain qualified management and other personnel, changes in government and regulatory policies, pricing and availability of equipment, materials, inventory and programming, our ability to meet the requirements in our franchise agreements, the number of potential customers in a target market, the completion of acquisitions or divestitures, acceptance of the Company's services, development and implementation of business support systems for provisioning and billing, the availability and success of strategic alliances or relationships, ability to overcome significant operating losses, RCN's ability to develop and penetrate existing and new markets, technological developments and changes in the industry, changes in the competitive environment in which RCN operates and ability to produce sufficient cash flow. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found in RCN's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors.

SOURCE  RCN Corporation