Acterna Announces New Cost-Savings Initiatives

Business Wire, Sept 4, 2002

Business Editors

GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2002

Acterna (Nasdaq: ACTR) today announced new cost-savings initiatives, including the elimination of approximately 500 positions across its worldwide operations.

Acterna will also further reduce its operational costs by consolidating manufacturing operations and expanding its work with contract manufacturers. A restructuring charge of approximately $10 million will be taken in the current fiscal year related specifically to these actions.

"We have seen a new round of capital spending reductions indicating that the global telecommunications industry is still struggling to find its footing," said John Peeler, president of Acterna Corporation. "These are very difficult decisions, but are necessary in order to align Acterna's cost structure with the projected growth of the industry."

Acterna's cost-savings initiatives closely follow other steps the company recently completed to strengthen its financial position. On August 14, Acterna closed cash tender offers for $150 million of its outstanding 9 3/4 percent bonds. In addition, on August 9, Acterna completed the sale of its Airshow business unit to Rockwell Collins for $160 million in cash. Through these two transactions, Acterna has reduced its debt by more than $230 million and its annual interest expense by approximately $17 million.

"We are pleased with the progress we have made to restructure and focus the business on the industry's best growth opportunities," added Peeler. "Our customers, including the world's largest providers of telecommunications service for businesses and consumers, require communications tests solutions that accelerate the provisioning of new services and help reduce network maintenance costs. We are committed to delivering this value to our customers around the world."

About Acterna Corporation

Based in Germantown, Maryland, Acterna Corporation is the holding company for Acterna, 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. 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. 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.