Acterna Expands Presence in China.

Business Editors

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2003

Former Nortel Executive Appointed New Country Manager for Greater China; Company Establishes Asia-Pacific Headquarters in Hong Kong 

Acterna, the world's leading provider of communications test solutions to telecommunications and cable network operators, today announced new investments to capitalize on the best growth opportunities in China. These investments include the appointment of former Nortel executive, Kevin Ng, as managing director for greater China and the establishment of Acterna's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.

"The telecommunications market in China represents one of the industry's best growth opportunities," said John Peeler, president and chief executive officer of Acterna. "China is attracting a disproportionate share of global communications industry investment. Therefore, we have made a stronger commitment to China, taking new steps to make sure Acterna's communications test solutions are best positioned to support these investments and the deployment of advanced new communications services around the country."

Peeler added: "As a global communications test leader, with strong relationships with the world's leading communications service providers, Acterna also serves as an important partner to China-based communications equipment manufacturers which are developing and deploying new network technologies to all regions of the world, including the Americas, Europe and throughout Asia."

Representing its commitment to China and focus on the highest standards of customer service, Acterna recently established Acterna (Tianjin) Limited, a new legal business entity registered in Tianjin. Tianjin is a free trade zone established in China to facilitate import/export processing, international trade logistics and currency conversions for multi-national corporations operating in the country.

Kevin Ng Appointed Managing Director for Greater China

Based in Acterna's Beijing sales office, Kevin Ng brings 20 years of IT, network and telecommunications industry experience to his new position as Acterna's managing director of greater China. Ng's responsibilities include leading Acterna's Sales and Service organization in China and building on Acterna's existing partnerships with customers such as China Telecom, China Netcom, China Mobile, Huawei Technologies, China Railway Network, China Unicom, ZTE and Shanghai Bell. He reports to Jim Platner, senior vice president of Acterna's Asia-Pacific Sales and Services organization.

Before joining Acterna, Ng spent three years with Nortel Networks, serving as director of Global Professional Service and Global Network Services for the company's Asia Pacific and North Asia region. Previously at Nortel, Ng led a team of 50 senior consultants based in Hong Kong, the U.S. and Australia to address the Internet data center/application service provider market.

Prior to joining Nortel, Ng served in senior sales and management positions with Compaq, Digital Equipment Corporation and Global Knowledge Network Corporation.

"I am pleased to join a world-class organization with a global leadership position in the communications test industry," said Ng. "Acterna is well positioned for growth in China, offering test solutions to support the efficient and rapid deployment of DSL, as broadband adoption in the country continues to accelerate, as well as the roll-out of multi-service transport platforms, a new network technology enabling China's existing phone network to support enhanced voice and data services."

"As investment in these and other advanced network technologies and communication services continues to grow in China, communications test plays an increasingly important role in the market," added Ng. "I look forward to delivering best-in-class test solutions that enable our customers to be more productive and operate their networks more reliably and efficiently."

Acterna's presence in greater China includes six Sales and Service offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Hong Kong. The company also operates a Sales and Service office in Taipei. From these offices, Acterna manages direct sales of Acterna's communications test instruments, systems, software and services as well as customer support, business development, finance and other back-office operations. Acterna also has a fully-equipped, ISO 9000-certified technical service center in Beijing.

Acterna Sets Up Asia-Pacific HQ in Hong Kong

Acterna also announced today that it has moved its regional headquarters from Melbourne to Hong Kong in an effort to locate its base of operations closer to a higher concentration of targeted markets in the region, including China. The headquarters office is located in the Bank of East Asia Building at 56 Gloucester Road, Wanchai.

"Hong Kong serves as a more central location from which we can more effectively address the best growth opportunities in China and across the Asia-Pacific region," said Peeler. "By moving Acterna's regional headquarters to a location closer to more of our customers in the region, we believe we can strengthen our customer support and regional marketing efforts, and stay ahead of the technology trends driving our product development initiatives."

Other Acterna Sales and Service offices in the region are based in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.

About Acterna

Acterna is the world's largest provider of communications test solutions for telecommunications and cable network operators. A trusted communications test partner for more than eight decades, Acterna offers an unmatched portfolio of award-winning instruments, systems, software and services that help its customers reduce network costs while improving performance and reliability. Headquartered in Germantown, Maryland, USA - with European and Asia-Pacific operations based in Eningen, Germany and Hong Kong - Acterna serves nearly every major communications service provider and equipment manufacturer around the world through a skilled sales and support organization in 31 countries.