EXHIBIT 99.1


CONTACTS:                                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media                                       Investors
Robert W. Stewart                           Mike Kraft
Voice: 703-762-5175                         Voice: 703-762-5359
Pager: 888-996-8478                         Pager: 800.981.5994
robert.stewart@teligent.com                 mike.kraft@teligent.com


                 Teligent reports $23m in first quarter revenue;
                     completes core Internet infrastructure

     Revenue up 50 percent from fourth quarter; 1,400 percent year over year

VIENNA,   VA.,   May  9,  2000  -  Teligent,   a  global   leader  in  broadband
communications,  today reported  revenue of $23.1 million for the quarter ending
March 31, a 50 percent increase over the $15.5 million in revenue for the fourth
quarter of 1999 and a 1,400 percent gain year-over-year.

The  company  also  announced  that it has  completed  construction  of its core
Internet  infrastructure,  with major data centers up and running in Washington,
DC and Chicago.  A third data center in the San  Francisco Bay Area is scheduled
to go on-line in the coming weeks.

Teligent-owned  Internet  facilities  today are  carrying  data  traffic for the
company's newest Internet  customers and hosting more than 500 Internet domains.
In addition,  the company has begun the  migration of existing  customers to the
new  infrastructure.  To date, Teligent has deployed more than 135 data switches
and  routers  in  its  local  broadband   communications   networks,  which  are
operational in 40 markets throughout the country.

Teligent's  recently  announced  network  agreement with Level 3 Communications,
Inc.,  which gives the company access to national and  metropolitan  fiber optic
facilities,   will  further  enhance  Teligent's  end-to-end,   facilities-based
Internet architecture.

"Teligent achieved  broad-based success during the first quarter," said Chairman
and Chief Executive  Officer Alex J. Mandl.  "We grew revenue 50 percent quarter
over  quarter  and  more  than  13-fold  year  over  year.  We  announced  major
international progress, either spectrum wins or new partnerships,  in Hong Kong,
Germany, France, Spain and Argentina.

"We grew our customer base by 20 percent,  increased our line count by more than
25  percent  and  connected  more than 600 new,  on-net  buildings  to our local
networks," Mandl added.

"In addition,  we grew local lines by 60 percent and increased  data sales by 80
percent," Mandl said. "With the completion of our core Internet  infrastructure,
Teligent will take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the burgeoning
data marketplace."

Teligent  ended the first  quarter with 17,647  customers,  up nearly 20 percent
from the customer base at the end of the fourth quarter.

The company added 58,000 new lines during the quarter,  bringing  total lines to
more than 286,000.  Teligent  provisioned  20,000 new local lines,  a 60 percent
increase over the number of local lines provisioned at the end of 1999.

During the  quarter,  Teligent  increased  by 25 percent the number of buildings
connected  to its local,  SmartWave(TM)  communications  networks,  bringing the
total  number of on-net  buildings  to 3,104.  Of that  total,  about  half were
equipped with wireless installations.

In the first three months of the year,  Teligent added more than 1,100 buildings
to its  portfolio  of real estate  under lease or option,  raising the number of
buildings to which Teligent has access rights by 15 percent, to 8,693.

The Teligent sales force stood at 547 reps at the end of the first  quarter,  up
65 percent from the first quarter of 1999. Measured in full time equivalent reps
with a minimum of three months' experience, the sales force grew to 408 from 127
during the same year-over-year period.

The number of new  customers  taking data  services  grew by 80 percent over the
fourth  quarter.  Nearly 50 percent of new  customers  took  local  service,  90
percent took long distance and nearly half took a bundle of services. Data sales
per new customer, measured in dollars, rose 20 percent over the fourth quarter.

"The growth of our data sales reflects our  continuing  commitment to extend our
services past the customer's  telco closet and Internet  firewall so that we can
deliver  bandwidth  straight to the  desktop - and the  laptop,"  said  Teligent
President and Chief Operating Officer Buddy Pickle.

"With the completion of our first two data centers, and the addition of national
fiber capacity to our  portfolio,  we now have in place the tools we need launch
full-scale,  end-to-end  Internet  services over our own national data network,"
Pickle said.

"We built each of our 40 local  SmartWave  networks on an ATM platform so we can
handle data and voice with equal agility.  The addition of two new national data
centers and a national  fiber backbone means we can provide our customers with a
much wider range of service at a much lower cost with much greater  control over
quality."

Pickle also noted  Teligent's  recent  announcement  that it has  developed,  in
conjunction  with San  Diego-based  REMEC, a new device that will  significantly
expand the reach of its local  fixed  wireless  networks.  "The  addition of the
active  antenna  repeater  to our  toolbox  means  we  will  be  able  to  reach
approximately  30 percent more buildings  with our Teligent base stations,  at a
very minimal cost," Pickle said.

Teligent reported a net loss of $156 million for the first quarter,  compared to
$154 million for the fourth quarter of 1999. Capital  expenditures for the first
quarter were $90 million,  compared to $124 million in the fourth quarter. As of
March 31, the company reported available cash and short-term investments of $286
million and total  assets of $970  million,  compared  to $557  million and $1.1
billion, respectively, at year-end 1999.

"With $191  million in net  proceeds  from the  secondary  offering we concluded
early last month, coupled with our remaining credit facility, Teligent continues
to be  funded  well  above the one  billion  dollar  mark,"  said  Acting  Chief
Financial  Officer Cindy Tallent.  "We have the liquidity and the flexibility we
need to continue building our growing business."

During the quarter,  Teligent  made  significant  progress on the  international
front, making the following announcements:

o    A partnership  in Germany with  Mannesmann  Arcor,  the  telecommunications
     subsidiary  of  industrial  giant  Mannesmann  AG. By utilizing  Teligent's
     German licenses in the 26 GHz band and Mannesmann  Arcor's  licenses in the
     26  GHz  and  3.5  GHz  bands,  the  joint  venture  will  have  access  to
     approximately 40 percent of German businesses.  The partnership  intends to
     leverage  Mannesmann  Arcor's  4,200-mile fiber optic backbone as it builds
     out its fixed wireless networks.

o    A spectrum  award in Hong Kong to a joint venture with HKNet Co. Ltd.,  one
     of the largest  Internet  service  providers in Hong Kong,  and CCT Telecom
     Holdings,  Ltd., an integrated  communications  company with  operations in
     Hong Kong and China.  The joint venture was awarded a market-wide  spectrum
     license to offer  communications  services  to  businesses  and  residences
     throughout Hong Kong.

o    A spectrum  award in Spain with  Teligent's  Spanish  partner,  competitive
     communications company Jazztel, which is building state-of-the art backbone
     and local  fiber optic  networks in major  markets  throughout  Spain.  The
     Teligent-Jazztel  partnership  has  been  awarded  one  of  three  national
     licenses to provide  communications  services throughout Spain using the 26
     GHz band.

o    A partnership  in Argentina  with Telcom  Ventures,  a U.S.-based  wireless
     pioneer that has licenses to build fixed wireless networks in the 24-25 GHz
     band in Argentina's  major markets,  including  Buenos Aires.  The licenses
     cover approximately 60 percent of Argentina's businesses.

o    A partnership in France with LD COM, the telecommunications arm of the $20-
     billion Louis Dreyfus  Group,  and Artemis,  a global  investment  holdings
     company. One of France's best-known communications brands, LD COM has built
     a fiber  backbone  covering  much of the  country.  The joint  venture  has
     applied for licenses in the 24.5 - 26.5GHz band to serve  businesses in the
     major French markets.

                       About Teligent's broadband networks

Teligent's local communications networks represent the integration of the latest
advances in  high-frequency  microwave  technology  with  traditional  broadband
wireline equipment.  Together these technologies enable Teligent to increase its
local network efficiency and significantly lower network costs.

Teligent  delivers fixed wireless  services by installing  small antennas on the
roofs of customer buildings.  When a customer makes a telephone call or accesses
the  Internet,  the voice,  data or video  signals  travel  over the  building's
internal  wiring to the rooftop  antenna.  These signals are then  digitized and
transmitted to a "base station" antenna on another  building,  usually less than
three miles away.

Each base station antenna gathers signals from a cluster of surrounding customer
buildings,  aggregates the signals and then routes them to a broadband switching
center. At the switching center,  ATM (Asynchronous  Transfer Mode) switches and
data  routers  distribute  the  traffic  to  other  networks,   such  as  public
circuit-switched  voice  networks,  packet-switched  Internet  and private  data
networks.

                                 About Teligent

Based in Vienna,  Virginia,  Teligent, Inc. (NASDAQ: TGNT) is a global leader in
broadband  communications  offering  business  customers  local,  long distance,
high-speed data and dedicated  Internet services over its digital  SmartWave(TM)
local networks in 40 major markets  throughout the United States. The company is
working with  international  partners to extend its reach into Europe,  Asia and
Latin  America.  Teligent's  offerings of regulated  services are subject to all
applicable regulatory and tariff approvals.

For more information, visit the Teligent website at: www.teligent.com
                                ----------------

Teligent and SmartWave are the exclusive trademarks of Teligent, Inc.

Except for any  historical  information,  the  matters  discussed  in this press
release contain  forward-looking  statements that reflect the company's  current
views regarding future events.  These  forward-looking  statements involve risks
and uncertainties that could affect the company's growth,  operations,  markets,
products and services.  The company cannot be sure that any of its  expectations
will be  realized.  Factors  that  may  cause  actual  results,  performance  or
achievement to differ materially from those  contemplated by its forward looking
statements include, without limitation:  1) The company's pace of entry into new
markets; 2) The time and expense required to build the company's planned network
and ISP infrastructure;  3) The impact of changes in telecommunications laws and
regulations;  4) General economic and competitive  conditions;  5) Technological
developments;  6) Other  factors  discussed  in the  company's  filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

                                 TELIGENT, INC.

                              Financial Highlights

(amounts in thousands, except per share, share amounts, and number of employees)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                        Three Months Ended
                       ---------------------------------------------------------
                       March 31, 2000   December 31, 1999(1)  March 31, 1999 (1)
                       --------------   --------------------  ------------------
<S>                             <C>                    <C>                 <C>
Revenues:

Communications services   $    23,064        $        15,499    $         1,523

Costs and expenses:

   Cost of services            77,360                 73,112             34,519
   Sales, general and
    administrative expenses    56,569                 52,862             45,276
   Stock-based and other
    non-cash compensation       7,821                  7,820              7,864
   Depreciation and
    amortization expense       19,129                 15,439              7,396
                           ----------       ----------------         -----------
     Total costs and
      expenses                160,879                149,233             95,055
                           ----------       ----------------         -----------

     Loss from operations    (137,815)              (133,734)           (93,532)

   Interest income and other    7,077                  4,470              5,181
   Interest expense           (25,015)               (24,424)           (19,761)
                           -----------      ----------------         -----------

   Net loss                  (155,753)              (153,688)          (108,112)
                           -----------      ----------------         -----------

   Accrued preferred stock
    dividends and accretion
    of issuance costs         (10,284)                (2,906)                 -
                            ----------      -----------------        -----------

   Net loss applicable to
    common shareholders   $  (166,037)       $      (156,594)      $   (108,112)
                          ============       ================      =============

   Basic and diluted net
    loss per common share $     (3.02)       $         (2.89)      $      (2.05)
                          ============       ================      =============

   Weighted average common
    shares outstanding     55,022,514             54,253,722          52,674,601

<PAGE>

Selected Financial and Other Data:
<CAPTION>
                                        Three Months Ended
                       ---------------------------------------------------------
                       March 31, 2000   December 31, 1999(1)  March 31, 1999 (1)
                       --------------   --------------------  ------------------
<S>                             <C>                   <C>                   <C>
EBITDA (2)              $   (110,865)   $          (110,475)      $     (78,272)
Cash used in operations $   (120,754)               (86,602)            (85,043)
Total capital expenditures    90,133                124,393              56,703

<CAPTION>
                                            March 31, 2000  December 31, 1999(1)
                                            --------------  --------------------
<S>                                                  <C>                   <C>
Cash and cash equivalents                   $      285,934    $         556,903
Total assets                                       970,293            1,131,843
Total stockholder's (deficit) equity              (590,333)            (441,917)

Number of employees                                  2,879                2,822
</TABLE>

         (1)Certain  amounts  in  prior  year  financial  statements  have  been
reclassified  to conform to the current year's  presentation.  EBITDA  (earnings
before  interest,  taxes,  depreciation and  amortization)  excludes charges for
stock-based and other non-cash compensation