ATEC Group Awarded $1.4 Million Educational Contract.

Business/Technology Editors

COMMACK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2000

ATEC Group, Inc. (AMEX: TEC), a leading system integrator and provider of a full line of information technology products and services, announced today it was awarded a $1.4 million contract from the Shenendehowa Central School District, located in upstate New York.

The contract calls for ATEC's Technology Integration Services (TIS) division to provide a new district-wide system to modernize Shenendehowa Central's entire communications network over the next 18 months. When completed, the system will link every aspect of the school district, including 9,200 students, 1,500 teachers and staff, and 11 schools, with a new unified messaging system, high-speed Internet access and an integrated phone and data network. To implement the project, ATEC will use data and voice technology from industry-leading Nortel Networks.

"We are very pleased to have received this significant order for one of the larger school districts in upstate New York and to be working with Nortel on this project," said Gary Martini, executive vice president of ATEC Group and overseer of the project. "The educational market is a growing one for our company, providing significant opportunities for us to demonstrate the strength of our TIS division. Moreover, we expect that this order and our affiliation with Nortel will help open the door to other large contracts in the New York State public sector, including additional contracts with this school district."

"Our TIS division over the past several months has secured some major contracts, which we believe points to the growing emphasis on this aspect of our business for the company," said Tony Rametra, president and CEO of ATEC Group. "As recently reported in our fiscal first-quarter financial results, we have shifted a significant portion of our sales force to more high-end technical services, and we believe that this adjustment will enable us to capture similar, significant opportunities in upcoming quarters."

Commented Dean Mayes, CIO of the Shenendehowa Central School District, "We are pleased by the breadth of service ATEC offers. We believe this new system will greatly benefit the school district and provide us with the most modern communications system to help improve our efficiency. We look forward to our partnership with ATEC on this project."

This is the second large educational contract ATEC Group has recently won. In August, the company's Nexar(R) PC manufacturing division, after a competitive bidding process, received an order to build computers for classrooms in the Sachem Central School District, located in Suffolk County, Long Island. The company also recently announced that its TIS division had completed a project totaling $1.7 million for MVP Health Plan, one of the largest and fastest-growing health maintenance organizations in the New York Capital District and the state of Vermont.

About Nortel Networks

Nortel Networks is a global Internet and communications leader with capabilities spanning Optical, Wireless, Local Internet and eBusiness. The company had 1999 U.S. GAAP revenues of US$21.3 billion and serves carrier, service provider and enterprise customers globally. Today, Nortel Networks is creating a high-performance Internet that is more reliable and faster than ever before. It is redefining the economics and quality of networking and the Internet, promising a new era of collaboration, communications and commerce. For more information, please visit www.nortelnetworks.com.

About ATEC Group

Based in Commack, New York, ATEC Group, Inc., is a leading system integrator and provider of a full line of information technology products and services. As a one-stop company for the computer needs of businesses, government agencies and educational institutions, ATEC Group offers computer hardware and software, system integration networking, graphic arts, Internet and Intranet. The company is positioned for growth through its capabilities as a PC manufacturer of Nexar technology, in software development and e-commerce.

For more information on ATEC Group, please visit the company's web site at www.atecgroup.com.

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