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DiversityNXT Awards Honor Excellence in Telecom Next Gen Supplier Diversity

LAS VEGAS-(Business Wire)-June 18, 2008 - DiversityNXT: Ahead of the Evolution, the leading conference for the telecommunications industry and its diverse suppliers, last night bestowed its three prestigious awards for excellence in supplier diversity in the Next Generation of telecommunications.

At a NXTcomm08 reception Tuesday night, the following pinnacles of recognition for supplier diversity leadership, advocacy and performance were presented:

— Trailblazer Award - Stephen G. Welch, Senior Vice President of Business Development for ASSIA INC., President of Value Propositions, LLC, and former Chief Procurement Officer at SBC (Ameritech, Southwest Bell and Pacific Telesis), for his exemplary leadership as a long-term diversity pioneer in the telecom industry.

— NXTGen Corporation Award - CommScope, Inc. for its use of diverse suppliers in its supply chain to provide a solution to a business challenge in Next Generation telecommunications.

— NXTSolution Supplier Award - Avion Systems for creating the most innovative solution to solve a customer problem, demonstrating value and reducing costs in the Next Generation arena. Accepting the award was Kanchana Raman, President and CEO.

"We applaud Steve Welch for his visionary leadership in our industry," said Delores Johnson-Cooper, DiversityNXT Co-Chair and Executive Director, Supplier Diversity, Verizon. "This is a wonderful opportunity to honor him as a true Trailblazer and advocate for supplier diversity throughout this career."

"CommScope illustrates how corporations can seize the competitive edge in the lightning-fast Next Generation telecom space through collaborating with innovative diverse suppliers," added DiversityNXT Co-Chair Lynn Scott, Executive Director Supplier Diversity, Alcatel-Lucent.

"Creating best-in-class value while maintaining cost advantages is key to both corporations' and suppliers' success. Avion Systems indeed shows others how to stay Ahead of the Evolution," she concluded.

As part of the giant telecommunications industry conference NXTcomm08, DiversityNXT: Ahead of the Evolution this week convened diverse suppliers and their corporate customers to explore new and innovative supply chain configurations that are leading to profitable partnerships. Presented by The Telecommunications Industry Group (TIG), the conference offers thought leadership sessions and networking opportunities, including the DiversityNXT Lunch, DiversityNXT Evolution Panel and MatchMaker Appointments.

Next Generation programs include products such as IMS, Broadband Service Deployment Strategies, 3G, and WiMAX.

Sponsors of DiversityNXT:

Platinum sponsors are Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Cisco, Fujistu and Verizon. Gold sponsors are Brocade and CommScope, Inc. Silver sponsors are Agilent Technologies and Motorola. Bronze sponsors are CTDI, Embarq, Nortel, Sprint and Tellabs. Diversity supplier sponsors are Goodman, Increditek, Karlee, KGP, Telamon, Telcobuy and Trillion. Media sponsors are DiversityPlus, MBE Magazine, MBN, SBTV and WE.

For more information on DiversityNXT, go to www.diversitynxt.org.

About the Winners:

Stephen G. Welch currently serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development for ASSIA INC. and as President of Value Propositions, LLC. Before retiring from AT&T in 2006, Mr. Welch spent 16 years as the Chief Procurement Officer for SBC (Ameritech, Southwest Bell, Pacific Telesis). He was responsible for strategic sourcing and purchasing, material logistics, inventory management, environmental management, supplier diversity, corporate real estate, corporate administrative services, and vehicle fleet management. Welch architected a centralized, world-class supply chain management organization through a series of successive mergers, achieving best-in-class results. In addition to his achievements at SBC, Mr. Welch was recognized for his excellence in procurement including: "Top 20 Voices for Quality in the 21st Century," Quality News; Executive-of-the-Year by the Economic Development Council of Los Angeles; Ron Brown Award from U.S. Commerce Department for leadership and diversity (2002); Corporation-of-the-Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (2001). During the last few years at AT&T Mr. Welch extended his accomplishments as Senior Executive Vice President in both Marketing and External Affairs. Mr. Welch is a member of Accenture's Executive Advisory Board for Procurement Solutions and also serves as an executive advisor to the Board of Directors QuEST Forum, a global Telecom Industry quality organization he helped to found in 1998.

CommScope, Inc. (NYSE: CTV - www.commscope.com) is a world leader in infrastructure solutions for communication networks. Through its Andrew Wireless Solutions(TM) brand, it is a global leader in radio frequency subsystem solutions for wireless networks. Through its SYSTIMAX(R) and Uniprise(R) brands, CommScope is a world leader in network infrastructure solutions, delivering a complete end-to-end physical layer solution, including cables and connectivity, enclosures, intelligent software and network design services for business enterprise applications. It is also the premier manufacturer of coaxial cable for broadband cable television networks and one of the leading North American providers of environmentally secure cabinets for DSL and FTTN applications. Backed by strong research and development, CommScope combines technical expertise and proprietary technology with global manufacturing capability to provide customers with infrastructure solutions for evolving global communications networks in more than 130 countries around the world.

Avion Systems is an Atlanta-based, global technology firm with over 600 employees specializing in converging communications, broadband network services, solutions and innovations. With two distinct practice areas, centered on the Telecom and Technology sectors, Avion provides value-added network planning, design, installation, optimization and deployment services. These behind-the-scene services enable seamless, anytime, anywhere access to information and entertainment. Historically, Avion's roots originate in the Telecom Services sector, where it has played a critical role in helping to implement network infrastructures worldwide for companies such as AT&T, Sprint Nextel, EarthLink, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Nokia Siemens, and Nortel. Avion will continue to play an important part in this arena by helping to design and deploy Third Generation (3G) technologies such as GPRS and UMTS, along with emerging technologies such as WiFi and WiMAX. For more information, see www.avionsystems.com.

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