…Will fully support Argogroup's GSM-R customers…

Surrey, UK and Turin, Italy, 02 May, 2007 - Comtest Wireless has acquired Argogroup's GSM-R testing business for an undisclosed sum.

GSM-R (standing for GSM-Railway) is a wireless communications standard specifically developed for railway communication. It is part of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), an EU-backed initiative to enhance cross-border interoperability and signaling procurement by creating a single Europe-wide standard for railway signaling. GSM-R resulted from more than a decade of collaboration between Europe's national railway companies with the aim of furnishing a cost efficient digital replacement for existing incompatible in-track cable and analogue railway radio networks.

Comtest is already an established leader in the provision of GSM-R testing solutions and, as part of the deal, will take full management and support responsibility for Argogroup's six GSM-R customers. Under the terms of the deal, Argogroup will provide software development and engineering support to Comtest on a paid-for basis when the latter deploys Argogroup-developed GSM-R software and hardware.

According to David Frodsham, Argogroup's CEO, the company decided to divest its GSM-R business to concentrate more closely on serving its core market - mobile telecommunications operators around the world.

"Over the last few years, we have been very successful in providing active test solutions for mobile operators," he said. "The needs of customers in this core market are very different from those of national railway authorities and we judged it to be important to refine our customer focus and ensure success in a market where we glean most of our revenues today."

He added that while the GSM-R business was not strategic for Argogroup, it was essential that the company found a partner who would support Argogroup's existing GSM-R customers well and fully and that Comtest was contractually committed to do that.

Mario Musso, CEO of Comtest said that the acquisition of Argogroup's GSM-R business filled out their range of GSM-R solutions. "We are experts in the provision of portable GSM-R testing solutions and Argogroup's expertise lies in the complementary area of fixed, lab-based testing products. We believe the combination of the two is a perfect solution for the market."

Note to editors: GSM-R is a secure platform for voice and data communication between railway operational staff, including drivers, dispatchers, shunting team members, train engineers, and station controllers. It delivers features such as group calls, voice broadcast, location-based connections, and call pre-emption in case of an emergency. Ultimately, this will support applications such as cargo tracking, video surveillance in trains and at stations, and passenger information services.

About Argogroup
Argogroup specializes in user experience optimization, a discipline that focuses on the interaction between the network, handset and service. he Tprinciple technology is Active Test, measuring services from the user's end-to-end perspective. An Active Test system helps a mobile operator test new services, system upgrades and monitor on-going quality, so that users spend more time and money on them. Monitor Master is the world's leading User Experience Optimization platform, in use in over 60 mobile operators worldwide. Argogroup is backed by Apax and 3i. Its headquarters are near Guildford, UK, with manufacturing and customer service in Stuttgart, Germany, and sales offices in the US, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, France, Italy and Sweden. For more information, visit: http://www.argogroup.com/

About Comtest Wireless
Comtest Wireless is an industry leader in measurement systems and data analysis for wireless and fixed network testing for operators, vendors and system integrators worldwide. Our proven and effective solutions (Leonardo™ massive data capture and analysis, NetProbe™ drive test data collection systems) provide high-performance communication test systems that analyze, simulate and monitor voice, data and cellular network services to help operators optimise the performance of their networks, whatever the technology used (DVB-H,WI-MAX,GSM/GSM-R/GPRS/UMTS,VOIP), and thus to provide subscribers with an optimum quality of service. Comtest Wireless also has deep and strong experience supplying consultancy and turnkey engineering services to mobile operators. For more information, visit http://www.comtestwireless.it/