Spirent CDMA Mobile Deployment Solution Reduces Time to Market; Spirent's UDM Dramatically Reduces manufacturers' time to validate new designs.

Business Editors

CTIA Wireless 2002

Booth #410

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2002

Spirent Communications, a wholly owned business group of Spirent plc (NYSE: SPM), announces the commercial availability of Spirent's Universal Diagnostic Monitor (UDM) v2.2.

Use of the UDM with Spirent's industry-leading C2K-ATS CDMA Automatic Test system can reduce mobile device test time by more than 30 percent. Spirent's UDM will be demonstrated from March 18-21 at Booth #410 of CTIA Wireless 2002 in Orlando, Fla.

Based on Spirent's SoftRouter(TM) technology, UDM automates simultaneous test control and data collection from multiple mobile devices. This functionality enables CDMA mobile device manufacturers to dramatically reduce the time required to validate new designs prior to deployment. Recently, Spirent has helped several interoperability labs to automate their testing, thereby helping manufacturers get their CDMA mobile devices to market faster.

"UDM is utilized by leading service providers, infrastructure vendors and handset manufacturers to verify the lab and field performance of the first wave of CDMA2000 mobile devices," said Denis Ledgerwood, product manager at Spirent Communications. "By automating all of their test cases with UDM, our customers are able to complete their product verification phase in a fraction of the time and get revenue-producing devices and services to market more quickly."

To deliver high-speed packet data services at rates up to 153 kbps, CDMA2000 1X mobile devices use a special radio link protocol (RLP) to mitigate the effects of radio propagation impairments and to ensure error-free data delivery. Version 2.2 of UDM adds significant diagnostic and automation enhancements to enable test and field engineers to monitor key RLP statistics for diagnosing the quality of high-speed packet data performance.

UDM v2.2 permits simultaneous control and diagnostic monitoring of the device under test. This drastically reduces test time by allowing either third party or custom software applications to automate complex test procedures. UDM's automation features also reduce the manpower required to execute test campaigns by enabling long test sessions to run unattended.

A high-resolution image file of this product can be downloaded from tas.spirentcom.com/news_images.htm.

About Spirent Communications

Spirent Communications (www.spirentcom.com) unites the best in performance analysis technology with network operations expertise. The company's award-winning solutions enable customers to accelerate the development, deployment and assurance of next-generation network equipment and services worldwide.

Spirent Communications designs and manufactures Adtech, DLS, Edgcumbe, GSS, Hekimian, SmartBits, TAS and Zarak products. More than 2,500 of the world's leading network and terminal equipment manufacturers, network service providers, corporate enterprises and test laboratories rely on our first-to-market products to verify and measure the performance and services of networks and communications devices.

Spirent plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT.). The company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange through a Level 2 American Depository Receipt program, through which one ADR represents four Spirent shares (ticker: SPM; CUSIP number: 84856M209). Further information about Spirent plc can be found at www.spirent.com.

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