CIENA Announces New Edge-Optimized Multiservice Platform.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUPERCOMM 2004

Booth #23815

LINTHICUM, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 2004

Compact CN 2600 Delivers Low- and High-Bandwidth TDM and Ethernet

Services For Remote Terminals, Multi-Tenant Units and Central Offices

CIENA(R) Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) today announced the availability of the CN 2600 Multiservice Edge Aggregator, offering service providers a single platform solution for delivering Ethernet, TDM services and other data services to small and medium enterprise customers. This solution is deployable over the existing carrier infrastructure, lowers the capital cost for accessing these customers by greater than 60 percent, and significantly lowers operating expenses through platform consolidation and software-provisionable service turn up.

The CN 2600 supports CIENA's strategic evolution to a leading provider of intelligent service creation and delivery solutions from Core to Door(TM). CIENA will showcase the CN 2600 at SUPERCOMM in Chicago, June 22-24, 2004, at the company's booth (#23815) and in multi-vendor industry demonstrations at the show.

Representing a large and growing market for service providers, cost-effective service delivery to small and medium enterprises has inherent challenges due to specific customer requirements, such as the need to aggregate a variety of low-bandwidth emerging data and traditional TDM services, the need to guarantee service levels, and the need for easy integration into carriers' Operations Support Systems (OSSs). The CN 2600 is specifically designed to address these challenges and enable service providers to capitalize on the growth in this market segment by offering multiple voice and data services at guaranteed quality levels and with carrier-class reliability from a single platform.

The first of a family of solutions, the CN 2600's new Low-Speed Add-Drop Multiplexer (LSA) service card aggregates T1/E1, T3/E3 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections into software-provisionable OC-3/12/48, STM-1/4/16 network uplinks. The CN 2600 is supported under Telcordia(TM) Technologies' OSMINE Services process for the Telcordia TIRKS(R), NMA(R) and Transport Element Activation Manager Operations Support Systems. In addition, with a new environmentally hardened chassis, the CN 2600 now can be deployed in remote terminals to significantly reduce service provider real estate leasing costs, thereby improving competitiveness and easing deployment. The platform also supports optional wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) interfaces, enabling service providers lower fiber access charges.

"Service providers trying to tap into the lucrative small and medium enterprise market have been hampered by platforms that were either too expensive for access environments or lacked support for multiple services resulting in expensive, multi-box deployments that delivered poor service economics," said James Frodsham, general manager of CIENA's Metro and Enterprise Solutions Group. "The CN 2600 hits the sweet spot for multiservice access with its broad service support and ability to be deployed cost-effectively in a variety of network locations, from a central office to remote terminals or multi-tenant units, so service providers can use one platform to serve multiple businesses."

The CN 2600 can be deployed in multiple network topologies and is fully compatible with all of the services and configurations supported by the ONLINE Edge platform. The platform is managed by CIENA's LightWorks ON-Center(R) Management Suite, which offers unprecedented design, planning, automated turn-up and management tools that simplify provisioning and upgrade operations.

ABOUT CIENA

CIENA Corporation delivers innovative network solutions to the world's largest service providers, cable operators and enterprises, increasing the cost-efficiency of current services while enabling the creation of new carrier-class data services built upon the existing network infrastructure. Additional information about CIENA can be found at www.ciena.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions of CIENA (the Company) that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release, including but not limited to the features and benefits of CIENA's products, are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business, which include the risk factors disclosed in the Company's Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2004. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.