Somera Provides New Guidance for First Quarter and 2001.

Business Editors

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2001

Somera Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:SMRA), a leading global provider of telecommunications infrastructure equipment and support services, today announced new guidance for its first quarter and fiscal year 2001.

"We previously noted in our fourth-quarter earnings call that the economic uncertainties and market conditions in the telecommunications sector afforded us less visibility in our outlook. We are now experiencing a steeper downturn in the telecom sector than indicators previously showed. Although some of our customers are spending at forecasted rates, others have responded to the economic uncertainty by further delaying purchases as they assess the impact of current market conditions on their business," said Dan Firestone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Somera Communications. "We now believe the overall market won't really begin to regain momentum until the second half of the year. We still do expect to see growth in our new international operations and services businesses which will partially offset the temporary U.S. slowdown in our equipment business.

"We now expect growth in revenues in 2001 over 2000 of approximately 7 to 10 percent for the year, and for the first quarter of 2001, revenues of approximately $42 million, about in line with the same period last year. We expect gross margins to remain within our previously stated range of 33 to 35 percent for the year as a whole. We also expect to remain profitable in all periods, with operating margins (a) in Q1 of 7 to 9 percent, increasing to 16 to 18 percent in the second half. For Q2, we expect revenues ranging from flat to 10 percent growth over Q1 of 2001. Our revised guidance reflects the current climate of the telecom sector and is not indicative of a reduction in market share," continued Firestone. "Our strong balance sheet with, today, $40 million in cash and essentially no long-term debt, provides the resources on which to build and develop our business for the future."

In light of the current environment, Somera plans to immediately step up its initiatives to optimize profitability and drive efficiencies in its business by streamlining operations. As part of this action, the company has reduced its domestic workforce by approximately 10% across-the-board without compromising the momentum of the company's new strategic initiatives.

"Looking forward, we will continue to invest in our core business and key strategic initiatives to expand internationally, build our services business, and pursue acquisitions. These areas will further expand our unique value proposition of providing efficient solutions to carriers that enable them to build, expand and maintain their networks faster and more cost-effectively," said Firestone. "We provide broad availability of more than 30,000 different new and de-installed products and work with more than 1,000 customers worldwide. While we are not immune to the overall economic environment, we believe Somera continues to be well-positioned to deliver strong sales and earnings results over the long term."

Conference Call Today. The company will conduct a conference call today on its 2001 guidance update that is available to everyone. It begins at 5:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. PST. To participate, please dial 800-305-1078 five minutes before the start time. The call will be available for replay one hour after the conference call until March 15, 2001 at 11:59 p.m. EST  by dialing 888-266-2086, pass code number 5052743.

About Somera Communications

As a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and support services, Somera configures, engineers and deploys wireless, wireline and data networking solutions that enable carriers to build, expand, and maintain their networks faster and more cost-effectively. Somera is vendor independent and offers a broad range of infrastructure solutions from over 300 manufacturers. With Somera OneSource(SM) Services, the company provides a complete suite of services for Materials Management, Technical Support and Asset Recovery. Founded in 1995, Somera has developed an impressive base of world-class customers, including the industry leaders from each segment of the telecommunications market. Somera was ranked as the second "Hottest Growth Company" by BusinessWeek and as an "Up and Comer" by Forbes Magazine. In the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, Somera reported record revenues of $211 million, a 66% increase over the same period last year. Visit Somera on the Web at www.somera.com

Except for historical information contained herein, the foregoing statements discussed in this news release regarding anticipated results for the first quarter of 2001 are forward-looking, and actual results could differ materially. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ are actual orders received and shipped during the remaining weeks of the quarter, product-mix, continuing changes in our customers' capital spending patterns and normal accounting adjustments during the quarterly close. The foregoing statements regarding our international operations and services business, the overall market for telecommunications equipment, and our anticipated results for the second quarter of 2001 and 2001 fiscal year including market position, revenues, margins, and operating results are also forward-looking. Among the factors that could cause actual results or future events to differ materially are the impact of economic conditions on the portions of the telecommunications industry that we serve, our ability to reduce expenses in light of weakened demand, the impact of competition on our business, our continued ability to match our equipment supply to customer demand, and our ability to execute on and the market acceptance of our strategic initiatives. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Somera with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically, Somera's reports filed on Form 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Copies of Somera's Securities and Exchange Commission filings may be obtained by contacting Kelly Delany, Investor Relations, Somera Communications, at 805/699-3384 or by contacting Rose Anunciacion, the Financial Relations Board, at 310/442-0599.

(a) Operating margin excludes amortization of goodwill and other intangible assets in the year, and a one-time reorganization charge of approximately $300K in Q1 of 2001.