Exhibit 99.1

Contact: Frank J. Walter, 202-299-0300 (fwalter@impalacom.com), Acterna Media
                                        ---------------------
         Relations, or Steve Cantor, 781-221-2056 (scantor@acternacp.com),
         Acterna Investor Relations


        ACTERNA CORPORATION ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENT PROPOSAL BY CLAYTON,
          DUBILIER & RICE; SEEKS AMENDMENT TO SENIOR CREDIT AGREEMENT


BURLINGTON, MASS. -- December 3, 2001 -- Acterna Corporation (Nasdaq: ACTR)
today announced that a fund managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc. has
proposed to make a $75 million investment in convertible senior notes of Acterna
LLC to be issued with warrants to acquire common stock of Acterna Corporation,
subject to, among other things, satisfactory amendment of the company's senior
secured credit agreement. (CD&R manages two investment funds that collectively
own approximately 80 percent of the company's common stock.) Acterna Corporation
said it met today with the lenders under its senior credit facility to discuss
the terms of its proposed amendments to the credit agreement. The company also
announced the formation of a special committee of independent directors of its
board of directors to review the terms of the proposed new investment. The
company cautioned that it could provide no assurance that it would be able to
reach agreement on the terms of an amendment to its credit agreement or on the
terms of the proposed new investment.

About Acterna Corporation:
Acterna Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTR) is the holding company for Acterna, AIRSHOW,
da Vinci Systems and Itronix. Acterna is the world's largest provider of test
and management solutions for the optical transport, access and cable networks
and the second largest communications test company overall. Acterna, with a
presence in more than 80 countries, provides a range of equipment, software,
systems and services to help customers develop, install, manufacture and
maintain their optical transport, access, cable, data/IP and wireless networks.
AIRSHOW supplies in-flight passenger information systems to the aviation
industry while da Vinci Systems designs and markets video color correction
systems to the video postproduction industry. Itronix sells ruggedized computing
devices for field service applications to a range of industries. Additional
information on Acterna is available at http://www.acterna.com

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This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Act of 1934, as amended, which reflect the Company's current judgment
on certain issues. Because such statements apply to future events, they are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ
materially. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially are described in the Company's reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q on file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.