Los Angeles, CA, Calabasas, CA, and Houston, TX - March 19, 2002 - Platinum Equity, LLC, a leading private buyout firm focused on acquiring and growing technology companies, announced today that its portfolio company, NextiraOne, has signed a product distribution agreement with Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) in the United States. NextiraOne is a leading provider of network solutions and services incorporating voice, data, and converged technologies. Through the agreement, the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 IP PBX and Omni family of next-generation convergence-optimized switches will become an integral part of the NextiraOne network LifeCyclesm solutions portfolio serving the United States.

"This is an important first step in building a long-term relationship with Platinum Equity and NextiraOne," commented Patrick Liot, president, Alcatel's e-Business Networking Division. "Alcatel and NextiraOne share a common goal of providing clients with best-of-breed solutions for their enterprise voice and data networks. This collaboration creates a total IP communications solution that will bring unprecedented benefits to the U.S. market."

"NextiraOne's position as the premier provider of voice and data convergence solutions will be significantly enhanced through this strategic relationship with Alcatel," said Bob Wentworth, president and CEO of NextiraOne. "We are confident that customers throughout the U.S. will benefit from the strength of Alcatel's enterprise focused voice/data convergence product portfolio that encompasses next-generation data switches such as the OmniSwitch to award-winning communications servers like the OmniPCX 4400."

Phil Norment, Platinum Equity's Chief Operating Officer noted, "The addition of Alcatel products to NextiraOne's multiple solutions and services offerings is significant in that it reaffirms Platinum Equity's customer-centric philosophy. By broadening our customers' access to world-class technology, we can better fulfill their unique business requirements."

This agreement follows an announcement by Platinum Equity on January 15th, 2002, to acquire the $1.3 billion European operations of Alcatel's direct enterprise distribution and services business.

Platinum Equity

Platinum Equity (www.peh.com) is one of the largest and fastest-growing private buyout firms in the United States, specializing in the acquisition and operation of global, mission-critical technology companies. Since the company's founding in 1995, Platinum has completed more than 30 transactions of global, mission-critical companies with leading Fortune 500 Corporations including Williams Communications, Motorola, Staples, Fujitsu, WorldCom, AT&T and IBM. Today, Platinum Equity has a multi-billion dollar revenue base, an established infrastructure in North America, Europe, Asia and South America and a workforce of more than 10,000 employees serving over 120,000 customers throughout the world. Platinum Equity was recently ranked by Forbes magazine as the 75th largest private company in the United States.

NextiraOne

Headquartered in Houston, TX, NextiraOne with 6,000 employees and revenues of $1 billion, is a leading provider of network solutions and services. NextiraOne delivers world-class LifeCyclesm solutions and lifecycle services from planning and design, through the implementation, support, and management of voice, data, and converged communications networks. As a nationwide service organization that carries an extensive portfolio of certifications and product expertise, NextiraOne provides best-in-class technologies from leading partners, such as Nortel Networks and Cisco Systems. NextiraOne offers consultation and solutions development ranging from contact center applications to network infrastructure outsourcing. NextiraOne is owned by Platinum Equity (www.peh.com), a global organization specializing in the acquisition and operation of global, mission-critical technology companies. For more information, please visit www.NextiraOne.com.

Alcatel

Alcatel designs, develops and builds innovative and competitive communications networks, enabling carriers, service providers and enterprises to deliver any type of content, such as voice, data and multimedia, to any type of consumer, anywhere in the world. Relying on its leading and comprehensive products and solutions portfolio, stretching from end-to-end optical infrastructures, fixed and mobile networks to broadband access, Alcatel's customers can focus on optimizing their service offerings and revenue streams. With sales of $22 billion in 2001 and 99,000 employees, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

About the Omni family of convergence-ready network solutions

Alcatel's award-winning Omni family of networking solutions meets the needs of enterprises converging voice and data networks. Based on a client/server UNIX architecture, the Alcatel OmniPCX 4400 is an IP-PBX with dual IP-TDM capabilities that supports scalability from 50 to 50,000 users, innovative telephone handsets, one-number mobility, unified messaging and voice-over IP networking. Alcatel's Omni family of data switches and VPN security solutions provide the network foundation that supports the quality of service, security, and management requirements of converged networks.

Alcatel Press Contacts

Monica Li	Tel: (818) 878-5389	monica.li@ind.alcatel.com
Ed Essa	Tel: (818) 878-5472	ed.essa@ind.alcatel.com

Platinum Equity Press Contacts

Alanna Chaffin	Tel: (310) 712-1850	achaffin@peh.com
Bill Kobel	Tel: (717) 703-6025	bkobel@peh.com