Ciena Appoints Managing Director of Ciena Government Solutions, Inc.

LINTHICUM, Md. -- Ciena([R]) Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that David Peed has been named Vice President and Managing Director of Ciena Government Solutions, Inc. (CGSI). The subsidiary, established in June 2005, is dedicated to designing, deploying and supporting advanced, flexible network solutions for the unique needs of government customers.

Mr. Peed will be responsible for expanding Ciena's government business by strengthening the Company's existing relationships with United States Department of Defense (DoD) agencies and others within the federal, state and local marketplaces. He joins Ciena from Qwest, where he served as Vice President of Sales and Business Development for the company's government services division. Previously, Mr. Peed held several senior positions in the telecommunications sector, and brings to Ciena nearly 20 years of information technology and sales experience in the civilian and defense industries. He holds a masters degree in information systems from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of arts in business administration from Towson State University.

"We are thrilled to welcome David to our team," said Mike Aquino, Ciena's senior vice president of worldwide sales. "His experience and established record in the government community will help drive Ciena's continued success in serving as a mission partner to government agencies as they transition their communications networks to meet the requirements of emerging applications."

CGSI delivers global network solutions that transform critical infrastructure, provide assured connectivity for strategic applications, and decrease network cost and complexity. Ciena's FlexSelect([TM]) Architecture enables agencies and their solution providers to create assured networks that mitigate risk, consolidate and simplify infrastructure and offer high levels network performance. Ciena's record of excellence and superior customer satisfaction in the government marketplace is evidenced by its role in the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Global Information Grid Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) project, the Department of Energy's UltraScience Net, and other projects across federal and state agencies as well as with the research and education community, where Ciena recently partnered with Internet2 to support its new advanced nationwide network.

ABOUT CIENA

Ciena Corporation is the network specialist, focused on expanding the possibilities for its customers' networks while reducing their cost of ownership. The Company's systems, software and services target and cure specific network pain points so that telcos, cable operators, governments and enterprises can best exploit the new applications that are driving their businesses forward. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31, 2006. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena'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. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.