HOUSTON - Jan. 12, 2005 - Immediately following its decision to shift sales and service delivery decision-making authority closer to customers, NextiraOne has appointed general managers to head its new Central, Western, Eastern and National Markets business units. These general managers have been given executive-level oversight for sales and service operations, a move that will help NextiraOne address its customers' needs more effectively.

"By designating general managers for each of our major market business units, we will give our customers even greater access to our expertise in IP, converged and traditional networking solutions," said NextiraOne CEO Dale Booth. "I am confident that with this leadership team directing the operations of our business units, customer needs will be addressed with greater speed and effectiveness."

Ernie Wallerstein, who has been appointed NextiraOne senior vice president of sales and marketing, will oversee the entire salesforce and serve as the general manager of the Central region. With more than 15 years of sales and telecommunications management experience, Ernie has amassed a wealth of skills and knowledge. Before joining NextiraOne, he was director of mid-market sales in the Americas for Genesys Laboratories Inc. Prior to Genesys, he was one of the original employees of Apropos Technology Inc., a publicly traded CRM and contact-center solutions company.

Joe Daly will head the Western region, where he will work to expand sales in major markets, execute strategic and operational plans and improve service quality. Prior to his current position at NextiraOne, Joe, who has more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications, was vice president and general manager of the Northwest territory for Williams Communications Solutions, which became part of NextiraOne in 2001. Joe also held executive sales positions at Nortel Communications Solutions and Pactel Meridian Systems.

Ed Kelly will serve as the general manager of the Eastern region, where he will focus on enhancing sales, customer service and operations. He has more than 25 years of telecommunications industry experience in leading large teams and managing multi-million dollar budgets. Kelly most recently served as vice president of business development at Hillcrest Associates LLC, where he was responsible for strategic business planning and telecommunication investments. As executive vice president at Comdisco Inc., Kelly led the team that built and operated Prism Communication Services Inc.'s national converged voice/data network. He also held various senior management positions with MCI for 13 years.

Larry Underwood will serve as the general manager of the National Markets business unit. Underwood will have responsibility for sales and service delivery for national and global accounts as well as the systems integrator and telecom carrier channel partners. Prior to NextiraOne, Underwood served as vice president of sales and business development for LongBoard. He also held numerous senior management positions with Tachion Networks, Lucent/Ascend, 3Com and MCI. He began his career in telecom as a switching systems technician for the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1981.

About NextiraOne
NextiraOne North America is a leading provider of integrated enterprise network, IP telephony, voice and data solutions and services that enable effective business communications. Built on a foundation of telecommunications industry experience dating back to the 1970s, the company's expertise ranges from planning to the implementation, support and management of traditional, IP and converged voice and data communications networks. NextiraOne also provides solutions featuring best-in-class technologies from leading manufacturers and vendors. The company offers consultation and solutions development ranging from contact center applications to network professional services. The NextiraOne companies enjoy a rich history that has been woven from the fabric of Williams Communications Solutions, Milgo Solutions, Racal-Datacom, Timeplex and Executone. For more information, please visit www.NextiraOne.com.

NextiraOne is owned by Platinum Equity (www.platinumequity.com), a global acquisition firm specializing in the strategic operation of mission-critical services and solutions businesses according to a unique M&A&O^SM model of value creation.

Contact:
Sadie McCrary
Media Relations Representative
M/C/C for NextiraOne
972-480-8383 ext. 222
Sadie_McCrary@mccom.com