Communications Solutions Selects Luminous Networks' PacketWave as Product of the Year.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2002

Communications Solutions magazine and the engineers of TMC Labs have selected Luminous Networks' PacketWave(TM) C-Series metro optical access platform as a 2001 Product of the Year. Luminous' C-Series platform was chosen for the award for going the extra mile for its customers, providing revenue-generating services and cost reducing equipment, innovative technologies and forward-looking leadership in building out metropolitan area networks.

Luminous Networks, the first provider of carrier-class optical Ethernet platforms for metropolitan area networks, announced the PacketWave C-Series platform in June 2001 and is currently shipping for revenue. The C-Series platform is a member of the PacketWave family -- the industry's first carrier-class optical-Ethernet platform to deliver voice and data services over an efficient packet architecture for metro area networks. Luminous' C-Series platform is based on Resilient Packet Transport(TM) (RPT) technology. RPT is a superset of the emerging Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) protocol being standardized in the IEEE 802.17 RPR working group. RPT provides telecommunications carriers with support for differentiated data services and carrier-class voice services.

"As the industry matures, we're finding more than just products and services on the market -- entire solutions are being offered," said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and group publisher. "The Product of the Year award, selected by the editors of Communications Solutions and the engineers of TMC Labs, is given to those select products, such as the Luminous' PacketWave C-Series platform, that deserve the attention of forward-thinking organizations looking for best-of-breed solutions. We are pleased to honor the Product of the Year winners today, as they lay the groundwork for the next generation of communications solutions."

"This award is an affirmation of Luminous' technology leadership, innovation and ability to deliver strategic business value to our customers," said Alex Naqvi, president and CEO of Luminous Networks. "Communication Solutions' recognition of the PacketWave C-Series platform is a milestone for our company. We will continue to provide our customers with superior products that deliver the most efficient solution for metro area networks."

Luminous' PacketWave provides carriers with a single platform that supports TDM voice and circuit services, enterprise virtual private networks, and Internet access. This allows carriers to rapidly generate revenue, based on their current voice and circuit services, as well as a new generation of packet-based IP data services. The PacketWave platform handles burst traffic, provides high reliability and supports a range of quality of service (QoS) agreements with high availability.

About Luminous Networks

Luminous Networks is an optical networking company, shipping the industry's first carrier-class optical Ethernet solution for Metropolitan Area Networks. The company's innovative PacketWave optical access switches enable telecommunications carriers to deliver Internet IP traffic, Ethernet-based virtual private network services, and toll-quality TDM voice services on a single, cost-effective platform. Luminous Networks was recognized as one of the top ten private networking companies by Technologic Partners, as a SuperQuest award finalist at Supercomm 2001, and received Communications Solutions' 2001 Product of the Year award, TMC Labs' 2001 Innovation Award, and Telecommunications magazine's Product of the Month award. Luminous can be found on the web at www.luminous.com.

Note to Editors: Luminous Networks, the Luminous mark, the Luminous Management System, PacketWave and Resilient Packet Transport are trademarks of Luminous Networks, Inc. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.