Regarding the importance of Korean market, the CEO emphasized, "Korea is a world leader in broadband deployment and penetration and also in providing next-generation networks." He added that "Acterna Korea started as a new player fifteen years ago in this market, but has consolidated the company's organization at a high level to be able to provide customers with superlative service and support, plus generate a turnover in excess of US$10 million."

As to the strengths of Acterna, Mr. Peeler stressed first of all a combination of technical strengths and geographical presence around the world.

Specifically, the CEO noted, "Acterna boasts a very strong sales position in Asia, the U.S.A., Europe and Latin America." He said Acterna serves nearly every major communications service provider and equipment manufacturer throughout the world via the company's direct sales and support organization in 32 countries. As a result, Acterna today remains the world's largest provider of communications test solutions for telecommunications and cable network operators, he said.

Mr. Peeler has a 26-year history in the communications industry, beginning his career on the engineering side. For the last 24 years, he has served Acterna in a variety of leadership roles and established himself as a pioneer in communications testing.

The CEO joined the company in 1980, when it was known as TTC and before its merger in 2000 with Wavetek Wandel Goltermann, to create Acterna.

Mr. Peeler was instrumental in building the company's engineering organization, one that has created innovations resulting in more than 120 technology patents. At the same time, Mr. Peeler is also credited with building Acterna's marketing organization, playing an instrumental role in connecting Acterna's product development efforts to the rapidly evolving communications industry landscape and the ever-changing needs of its customers.

In 2000, Wavetek Wandel Goltermann and TTC, the second and third-largest communications test companies in the world, respectively, merged to form Acterna, a company with 4,000 employees and a presence in more than 160 countries around the world. Mr. Peeler was selected to run the new company as president and CEO.

He successfully led the integration of the two companies, creating a world-class sales and services organization, streamlining manufacturing operations and establishing Acterna as the global leader in communications test solutions for optical, access and cable networks.

Acterna, a Korean Success Story

Last month, 2004 Acterna, the world's largest provider of communications test solutions for telecommunications and cable network operators, has celebrated fifteen years of operations in Korea. What began as a six-member team in 1989 now consists of a team of eleven with over 100 customers, revenue that recently over U.S. $10 million, market leadership for optical transport and cable solutions, and a strong market share in the data marketplace.

Acterna counts KT, DACOM, SK Telecom and Powercomm amongst its customers. In addition, the company can claim one of the only telecommunications test equipment service centers in the country, which provides it with unmatched turnaround on service orders in Korea - a key selling point for customers.

"We have worked very closely with our customers and know them well, and they know us well and it is those relationships that have continued to provide us with business," said Jang Seung-hyek, President of Acterna Korea Ltd, who joined the company in 1992 as a sales engineer. "In Korea we have the same advantage as Acterna worldwide in that our direct sales force is our greatest asset. We also are known for our high quality of product and our service center."

To celebrate its success, Acterna has brought together executives from its headquarters in Maryland, USA, and its network divisions worldwide and hosting a series of company and customer events in Seoul. In conjunction with a customer seminar series, more than 130 members of Acterna's Asia Pacific sales and services organization, product managers from its telecom and cable network divisions, as well as company executives - including John Peeler, president and CEO; John D'Anna, executive vice president of global sales and services; Helmut Berg, president, telecom division; and John J. Jones IV, vice president, Asia Pacific sales and services - gathered in Seoul for the company's 2004 Asia Pacific sales meeting. Seoul in particular was recognized by Acterna executives for its accomplishments.

"From a global standpoint, South Korea is one of the most vibrant telecommunications markets in the world, due in part to great development in its communications infrastructure and also to its base of savvy subscribers who want no less than the free flow of voice, data, and video communications," said John J Jones IV, Vice President, Asia Pacific Sales and Services. "Located for the first time in South Korea, our annual meeting is an opportunity for Acterna, as a global company, to collaborate, discuss new customer initiatives, update technical expertise, and celebrate performance excellence achieved in the Asia Pacific region during fiscal year 2004."

In addition to showcasing several new market innovations for Korean communications providers and manufacturers deploying VoIP, broadband and Metro Ethernet networks, Acterna has presented four technical seminars on November 3 at the Seoul JW Marriot Hotel. Delivered by global communications experts from Acterna's product divisions, the seminars will help customers identify and address both growth opportunities and challenges facing deployment of new services and technologies - such as VoIP, Metro Ethernet, DSL, FTTx and next generation networks - as well as reducing network operating expenses, improving quality of service and reducing customer churn. The seminars specifically have dealt with the challenges of: reducing costs associated with the rollout and day-to-day maintenance of VoIP service offerings; closing the loop between data stream test and analysis, and live network performance; network management control from the core to the edge; and optimizing network efficiency and increasing traffic utilization.

Acterna Korea's close relationships with its customers has helped it recognize the synergies between network performance and the bottom line in today's market environment of total connectivity, and the seminars were formulated to further help customers address the serious issues they are facing, namely the push to accelerate the rollout of broadband DSL services and maintain QoS, the required smooth transition from circuit to packet networks to deliver VoIP, and the pressure to ensure that the Metro Ethernet network provides security, flexibility and on-demand bandwidth by removing bottlenecks in access networks.

In many ways you can say that Acterna has "grown up" with the innovative Korean telecommunications market of the last several years. "We helped operators throughout the initial growth of the infrastructure in the late 1990s, with major growth in 2000-2001. The very fast development and growth in Korea made test and measurement a necessity," said Jang. "The world knows that the Korea economy was hit hard in 1998, but we saw recovery in 1999 and fast growth in 2000 and 2001, and then there was some cooling of the market just like the rest of the world." But Jang continues to see a bright future for Acterna and the Korean telecommunications market. "Our business remains strong and so does our customers' industry, and we look forward to growth this year and have experienced it so far, especially in the areas discussed in our seminars. We look forward to the future and are excited by what we think it will bring."

For more information on Acterna, Acterna Korea and the seminars mentioned in this article, please contact Jang Seung-hyek at +82 2 552 0563 or seung-hyek.jang@acterna.com, or visit www.acterna.com.

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