China Unicom Selects Corning LEAF Fiber for Its Next Generation Network; Chinese Network Provider Will Deploy Several Hundred Thousand Kilometers of LEAF Fiber by the End of the Year.

Business Editors

CORNING, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) announced today that China Unicom has selected Corning(R) LEAF(R) fiber for the optical backbone of its long-haul network. By the end of this year, China Unicom will deploy several hundred thousand kilometers of LEAF fiber for the initial phase of its network deployment.

China Unicom is building a 150,000-kilometer network providing points of presence in all major Chinese cities. As the second largest telecommunications carrier in China, China Unicom provides integrated telecommunications services, including cellular, paging, long distance, data and Internet services.

China Unicom indicated in a statement that it selected Corning LEAF fiber as the backbone of its long-haul network because of the technical and economic advantage it offers. The company also stated that with the benefits LEAF fiber offers, China Unicom will be able to provide greater performance to more than 20 million Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network service subscribers and 47 million paging service subscribers as well as various international direct dialing and domestic direct dialing services at a lower cost.

LEAF fiber, with its patented large effective area design, offers China Unicom the lowest cost-per-bit advantage by allowing more power to be transmitted down the fiber than standard non-zero dispersion-shifted fibers, while minimizing non-linear effects that degrade system performance. That capability, combined with moderate dispersion in the 1550 nm operating window, offers higher data rates, longer reach and future flexibility with emerging technologies, all of which can drive down the cost of bandwidth.

"With an optical backbone of LEAF fiber, China Unicom's advanced network will provide a technical and economic advantage to its customers," said Alan Eusden, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Optical Fiber. "We are pleased to be the major fiber supplier for China Unicom and look forward to a strong relationship with them."

Wendell Weeks, president of Corning Optical Communications, added, "We continue to see strong demand for Corning's optical fiber products, particularly LEAF fiber, in new international markets. Growth of high data rate fiber throughout China continues to be particularly robust. This is the third major Chinese telecommunications carrier this year to select LEAF fiber for their network backbone. Clearly Corning's advanced performance fibers are emerging as the worldwide standard for state-of-the-art network systems."

LEAF fiber continues to be deployed by carriers worldwide, on six of the seven continents, in advanced, high data rate networks. Key LEAF fiber customers to date include Aerie Networks, Argus Telecommunications, AT&T, Broadwing Communications, Cable & Wireless, Carrier1, China Netcom, China Telecom, China Unicom, COLT Telecom Group plc, Communications Authority of Thailand, Eurotunnel, Interoute (i-21 network), Impsat, KG Telecom, LD COM, Level 3 Communications, Inc., NEESCom, TransTeleCom, Williams Communications and 360Networks.

Established in 1851, Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) creates leading-edge technologies for the fastest-growing markets of the world's economy. Corning manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry; and high-performance displays and components for television and other communications-related industries. The company also uses advanced materials to manufacture products for scientific, semiconductor and environmental markets. Corning's revenues in 2000 were $7.1 billion.

Editor's Note: Corning and LEAF are registered trademarks of Corning Incorporated.