Agility Communications Awarded Multimillion Dollar Government Contract; Major Endorsement for Tunable Laser Leader.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

OFC 2003

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2003

Four-Year Contract Opens New Revenue Opportunities; Aids Government

with Military Defense Applications

Agility Communications, Inc., the award-winning manufacturer of widely tunable components for metro, switching, and long-haul markets, today announced that the U.S. government has awarded Agility a significant contract for the development of widely tunable lasers with monolithically integrated modulators (EMLs). Valued at $5.5 million if fully funded through three phases, the contract was awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its CS-WDM (Chip-Scale Wavelength Division Multiplexing) Program. The CS-WDM program's goal is to develop multifunctional photonic chips for WDM networks on military platforms. This announcement underscores Agility's leadership and success in securing design wins and revenue in both private and public sectors.

Under the CS-WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) program, the government is testing Agility's technology platforms that enable and support intelligent networks and systems for military applications. Agility's widely tunable EMLs are currently being tested for a CS-WDM Program. The results show that over a distance of 1080 kilometers, Agility's 2.5Gb/s EML performed as well as a distributed feedback laser (DFB) with an external lithium niobate modulator.

"These results show that monolithically integrated modulators have very small frequency chirps -- a remarkable result achieved by Agility Communications within the first year of the CS-WDM Program," said Jag Shah, program manager for the CS-WDM Program at DARPA.

"This is an exciting result and opportunity for Agility, as our technology has a broad range of use for strategic, broadband applications. During this downturn, Agility is thriving, planting new seeds, developing new technology, and securing significant design wins and contracts," said Ron Nelson, chief executive officer and president of Agility Communications. "With substantial cash in the bank, world-class customers, the best management team in the business, and award-winning technology, Agility is strongly poised to be the undisputed leader of widely tunable components."

Agility Leads Market; Achieves Multiple Industry Firsts

With the announcement of this multimillion-dollar contract, Agility further solidifies its leadership position in the widely tunable component market. The company also recently announced development of the industry's first universal transponder, and Agility was the first widely tunable laser company to announce Telcordia qualification in March 2002. Additionally, Agility is the first widely tunable laser company to announce a top-tier, publicly traded company, Lightscape Networks, as a customer and strategic partner. With the November 2002 announcement of the 3205 widely tunable laser, Agility became the first company to announce a product that conforms to the Tunable MSA industry standard supported by Alcatel Optronics and Bookham Technologies.

"This is an auspicious time for Agility, as we begin to ship samples of our Universal Transponder to customers, continue to secure design wins with top-tier system companies, and realize significant contracts from the U.S. government," said Arlon Martin, vice president of sales and marketing for Agility Communications. "We are very excited about OFC next week and look forward to sharing our success with our customers and the marketplace."

About Agility Communications, Inc.

Agility Communications, Inc., the leader in pioneering widely tunable components for metro, switching, and long-haul markets, provides the lowest total cost of ownership and dramatically reduces the costs and complexity of supporting agile networks. The company has been named one of Light Reading's Top 10 Privately Held Companies, has won the Technologic Partners' Optix 2001 Investors' Choice award, and was listed in UPSIDE magazine's "Hot 100" private companies for 2001. Agility has also been highlighted in several "Hot Companies to Watch" lists, including ones in Business Week and Lightwave Magazine.

Founded by a team of optical networking and semiconductor veterans in October 1998, Agility is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, and has manufacturing facilities in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Agility investors include Alliance, Amerindo Investment Advisors, CIENA Corp., Comdisco Ventures, Dell Ventures, General Bank, GM Investment Management Corp., Global Strategic, Granite Global Ventures, London Pacific Assurance Limited, Meritech Capital Partners, Mitsubishi International Corp., Morgenthaler Ventures, Mustang Ventures, Nissho Electronics Corp. (Nissho Iwai American Corp.), Siemens Venture Capital, Tellabs, U.S. Venture Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners. For more information about Agility solutions, visit www.agility.com, send email to [e-mail], or call 805-690-1700.

Agility Communications and the Agility logo are trademarks of Agility Communications, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company and product names mentioned are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.