Cielo Communications Forms Technical Advisory Board.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BROOMFIELD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2000

Cielo Communications, an industry leader in the research, development, manufacturing and deployment of VCSEL technology and integrated optical modules, today announced the formation of its Technical Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board will assist Cielo's management team in various business segments while helping to enhance the company's focus and direction.

"Cielo is very excited about the formation of the Technical Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will complement our already-outstanding management team, making it a new strategic asset for the company," said Mike Cowley, president and chief executive officer of Cielo Communications. "The members of the Advisory Board were selected based on their proven technical, industry, operational and financial expertise."

The Advisory Board is currently composed of six members who will be responsible for providing input to the management team in the areas of product direction, industry trends, and business strategies. The Advisory Board was created to balance internal viewpoints with the external perspectives of Cielo's customers and marketplace and will work with senior management during the development and implementation stages of new technologies and products.

Cielo's Technical Advisory Board includes the following members:

Cindy Burgdorf has spent 30 years in senior financial management in the high tech industry. She retired in June 2000 after serving six years as senior vice president, finance and administration and chief financial officer for SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) in Sunnyvale, Calif. Burgdorf also held executive and senior management positions with Intel, Maxtor and Ernst & Young. She is a CPA in the state of California.

Dr. Robert A. Burmeister, Ph.D. has a broad background in technology management, with extensive experience in both industrial and academic research environments. He is currently president of Saratoga Technology Associates. Burmeister's prior experience includes serving as laboratory director at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories where he was responsible for the research and development of advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Dr. Kent D. Choquette, Ph.D. has a rich background in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and optoelectronics research. Choquette, a renowned expert and author on VCSELs, is currently a distinguished faculty member of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and formerly served as a principal member of technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. In his role at Sandia, Choquette was a member of the joint Cielo-Sandia team that developed the first 1310 nm VCSEL grown on GaAs.

Jeff Fishburn has spent over a decade in the telecommunications industry. He is currently the VP of technology at Western Integrated Networks, a developer of broadband access solutions to the home. Fishburn's prior experience includes positions at Lucent Technologies and AT&T Bell Laboratories where he designed high capacity metropolitan/backbone networks and introduced solutions that covered non-traditional/emerging service providers in North America.

Gary Nekula currently serves as chief technical officer for Pontio Communications Inc. In this role, Nekula is responsible for the network design and deployment of network equipment, including transport equipment, physical and virtual collocation, DSL technologies, and OSS systems. Nekula's extensive telecommunications experience includes working with companies such as MFS Communications Company Inc. and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

Jim Sackman is currently the vice president and chief technical officer of AFC. Before his promotion, Jim was the director of hardware engineering and responsible for the development of the first DLC integrated ADSL card. Prior to AFC, Jim held positions at Racal-Datacom as engineering director and at Siemens Information Systems.

About Cielo Communications

Cielo Communications is an industry leader in the research, development, manufacturing and deployment of VCSEL technology and optical packaging. The company's commitment to the advancement of VCSEL technology enables the broader adoption of cost-effective, multi-gigabit-per-second fiber optic interconnect solutions in the telecommunications marketplace. Cielo Communications is a privately held company backed by several major investor groups including Mayfield Fund, Menlo Ventures, Herb Alpert, HarbourVest, JAFCO, Triumph Capital, J.&W. Seligman, and Kingdon Capital. Cielo Communications is headquartered at 325 Interlocken Parkway, Building A, Broomfield, CO 80021.

Cielo(TM) and the Cielo logo are trademarks of Cielo Communications. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. All rights reserved.