Acterna Introduces NetAnalyst 5.

1
Provides OSS Test Support, Reduces Operational Costs and Drives Process Improvement or Ne! Services Deployment

Germantown, MD, October 12, 2004 Acterna today introduced NetAnalyst 5.1, a next generation test OSS system designed for network operators to significantly accelerate t e deli!ery of ad!anced communications ser!ices w ile impro!ing "uality and reducing t e costs of deployment. #it NetAnalyst 5.1$s a%ility to integrate customi&ed automated testing, "uickly respond to repair and turn'up re"uests, as well as offer an easy'to'access we%'%ased tec nology, ser!ice pro!iders can now drastically reduce operational costs associated wit new ser!ice turn'up and network maintenance testing. Acterna$s OSS solutions, including NetAnalyst 5.1, will %e on display at t e (elemanagement #orld )orum, *ong +eac , ,A, Octo%er 1-'1., %oot -1/. +uilding on Acterna$s popular NetAnalyst %rand, !ersion 5.1 pro!ides network operators wit greater efficiency and accuracy w en managing t e entire lifecycle of a ser!ice deployment. Of t e new capa%ilities, t ere are two ig lig ts. )irst, NetAnalyst (est0ules allows ser!ice pro!iders to specify and deploy t eir own expert testing, a!oiding costly custom software de!elopment or integration. ( is function also %rings an expert test engine 1en!ironment2 t at allows customers to easily 3%uild in3 customi&ed expert analysis capa%ilities. Second, NetAnalyst (est4ortal pro!ides we% ser!ices accessi%ility to NetAnalyst (est0ules procedures, as well as a 5-66 compliant plug'in extension Application 4rogramming 7nterface 8A479, t at cost'effecti!ely add external system capa%ilities into t e NetAnalyst (est0ules information model. Acterna$s NetAnalyst (est0ules procedures are also designed to %e le!eraged %y non'testing personnel suc as customer care tec nicians or end'customers from NetAnalyst directly or !ia trou%le ticketing systems or customer managed network portals. #it t e 5.1 !ersion, network operators now a!e t e tools to offer superior customer ser!ice and en:oy t e %enefits of increased customer intimacy and responsi!eness %y pro!iding "uicker time'to'respond, repair and turn'up end'user ser!ices. 3Acterna is committed to pro!iding t e most effecti!e network analysis and monitoring tools for deploying new ser!ices relia%ly and cost'effecti!ely,3 said 5o n ;o!ert, !ice president of marketing for Acterna$s Ser!ice Assurance Solutions di!ision. 3#it NetAnalyst 5.1, Acterna is a%le to impro!e t e efficiency of our customer<s %usiness operations %y cost effecti!ely integrating test and network analysis expertise wit t e processes and systems t at increase producti!ity, en ance customer satisfaction, reduce training times and staffing re"uirements, and support emerging and existing network arc itectures.2 NetAnalyst 5.1 pro!ides a (=) N;OSS consistent (est OSS application for managing and integrating t e test and maintenance of >S? to O,'1/- transport ser!ices, as well as A(=, frame relay and 74 data ser!ices. 7t includes a powerful expert automation feature set t at ena%les 1%uilding'in2 custom expert analysis using NetAnalyst (est0ules. NetAnalyst (est0ules are a non'programmer %ased rule syntax t at allows testing su%:ect'matter experts to configure NetAnalyst test procedures wit conditional logic for modifying testing actions t at are dependent on dynamic test inputs, results or e!ents. (est0ules can %e used to define specific pass@fail criteria deri!ed from dynamic S*A t res olds, determine root'cause analysis, pro!ide predicti!e or next'step recommendations, and %uild'in exception andling capa%ilities to ensure t e automated testing en!ironment is %ot ro%ust and relia%le. ( ese powerful and flexi%le capa%ilities cannot %e found in legacy centrali&ed test systems. About Acterna Acterna is t e world$s largest pro!ider of communications test solutions for telecommunications and ca%le network operators. A trusted communications test partner for more t an eig t decades, Acterna offers an unmatc ed portfolio of award'winning instruments, systems, software, and ser!ices t at elp its customers reduce network costs w ile impro!ing performance and relia%ility. Aead"uartered in ;ermantown, =d. B wit 6uropean and Asia'4acific

operations %ased in 6ningen, ;ermany, and Aong Cong B Acterna ser!es nearly e!ery ma:or communications ser!ice pro!ider and e"uipment manufacturer around t e world t roug a skilled sales and support organi&ation in D1 countries. EEE All Acterna company or product names mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of Acterna Inc. or one of its subsidiary companies.