Acterna Expands Cost-Savings Initiatives

Business Wire, March 20, 2002

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2002

Acterna Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTR) today said that it is expanding previously announced cost-reduction initiatives and will reduce staff by approximately 400 positions. These reductions will be achieved through job consolidation, attrition and early retirement. As a result of these actions, the company expects to realize annualized savings of approximately $30 million.

"We have been successful with our cost-management efforts to date and will continue to closely manage our business to return to profitability," said John Peeler, Acterna's president and CEO. "As part of its ongoing program to successfully manage through a challenging market environment, Acterna is moving aggressively to strengthen its competitive position and prepare the company for more robust growth when industry conditions improve."

Acterna's latest initiatives follow other recent steps to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and bolster financing. In December, Acterna reached an agreement to amend its senior credit agreement with its lenders, and in January the company received a $75 million investment from a fund managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc.

These staff reductions will result in a restructuring charge of approximately $7-9 million, which will be taken in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2002 and in the fiscal first quarter of 2003.

About Acterna Corporation

Based in Germantown, Maryland, Acterna Corporation is the holding company for Acterna, AIRSHOW, da Vinci Systems and Itronix.

Acterna is the world's second largest communications test and management company. The company offers instruments, systems, software and services used by service providers, equipment manufacturers and enterprise users to test and optimize performance of their optical transport, access, cable, data/IP and wireless networks and services.

AIRSHOW supplies in-flight passenger information systems to the aviation industry while da Vinci Systems designs and markets video color correction systems to the video postproduction industry. Itronix sells ruggedized computing devices for field service applications to a range of industries. The company has more than 5000 employees worldwide.

Additional information on Acterna is available at http://www.acterna.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements reflect the company's current judgment on the matters addressed by these statements. However, because such statements apply to future events, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual events and the company's results to differ materially. Important factors that could cause actual events and the company's results to differ materially are described in the company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.