Corvis Announces Industry's First Multiband Switch; CorWave OCS Extends Corvis' Next-Generation Product Offering From Core to Edge.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2001

Corvis Corporation (NASDAQ:CORV) today announced the CorWave Optical Convergence Switch (OCS), which extends Corvis' next-generation product offering from the network core to the network edge. The CorWave OCS enhances Corvis' intelligent optical networking solutions by providing both electronic and photonic switching capabilities for voice and data-centric networks. The CorWave OCS will be on display in Corvis' booth #5856 at SUPERCOMM 2001, June 5-7 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

"Carriers require a flexible solution, which enables them to evolve their existing network to address the dynamic data-centric demands of their customers, while leveraging their current SONET-based infrastructure," said Dr. David Huber, President and CEO, Corvis Corporation. "The CorWave OCS' pioneering dual switching fabric provides carriers a cost-effective solution, which increases network utilization while enabling the delivery of new broadband services to businesses and consumers."

The CorWave OCS is the industry's first multiband network product. The CorWave OCS incorporates both an electronic switch fabric for STS-1 grooming and aggregation, and a photonic switch fabric for wavelength switching. By combining both technologies, the CorWave OCS offers a single-network management platform, which enables a seamless network management across multiple network topologies, such as point-to-point, ring and mesh, and network architectures. The CorWave OCS platform allows carriers to integrate existing voice-based access, metro, regional and national as well as across all-optical express network and efficiently moves traffic through their network.

As wavelength services are introduced to the network, the CorWave OCS can be scaled efficiently using wavelength switching in the photonic portion of the CorWave OCS. By switching express layer wavelengths, which do not require grooming, carriers can eliminate the unnecessary growth of electrical switches in their network, saving on capital and operational expenditures, while increasing network flexibility. The CorWave OCS electronic fabric can serve as an edge switch to groom and aggregate STS-1 traffic, allowing carriers to provision sub-wavelength services through their networks.

The CorWave OCS electronic switch fabric scales from 240 Gb/s in a single shelf up to 11.5 Tb/s. The CorWave OCS photonic switch fabric can support up to 4,000 bi-directional all-optical ports. In addition, the CorWave OCS provides flexible configuration options, supporting all-electronic, all-photonic or a combination of electronic and photonic switching fabrics depending on a carrier unique network traffic and service requirements. The CorWave OCS also provides carriers a classic "pay-as-you-grow" deployment strategy, enabling the carrier to scale the CorWave OCS as traffic demands increase.

"Corvis continues to be a leading player in optical networking, as evidenced by its CorWave OCS product, which will help us combine electrical grooming for SONET termination and optical switching for network transparency in a single platform," said John McClellan, president of EPIK Communications. EPIK, a leading carriers' carrier with a high-performance fiber optics network, plans to migrate its network from SONET rings to a fast recovery mesh architecture. "We're pleased to be working with Corvis on a product initiative that will ultimately result in lower costs and improved efficiency for our customers."

The CorWave OCS extends the value and reach of Corvis' optical networking solutions to the network's edge with the CorWave TruePath operating system. Using Generalized Multi-protocol Label Switching (GMPLS), the CorWave OCS utilizes a distributed end-to-end provisioning capability to improve service velocity and restoration intervals, which are essential for next-generation services. The CorWave TruePath operating system allows carriers to establish rules for selecting routes through the network based on their unique network requirements. As a result, service providers can maximize bandwidth efficiency based on destination and cost.

"Carriers need to maximize the value of their existing SONET infrastructure while at the same time evolve their networks to accommodate new wavelength services," said Sterling Perrin, Senior Research Analyst, Optical Networks, IDC. "Products like Corvis' CorWave OCS, help carriers accomplish this goal by combining subwavelength grooming and all-optical switching in a single platform."

CorWave OCS is the first product resulting from Corvis' acquisition of Baylight Networks, which was completed in June 2000. The product will be commercially available in Q1 2002.

About Corvis

Corvis Corporation is a leading provider of next-generation optical services networks founded by Dr. David Huber, a pioneer in the field of optical communications. By deploying the industry's first all-optical network, Corvis has revolutionized the way communications traffic is moved in the new Internet-driven economy. Corvis products and services deliver all-optical network intelligence and mesh network capabilities providing telecom service providers with end-to-end core networking solutions, which make them more competitive in the market. Corvis' next-generation products enable these carriers to offer their customers a vast array of advanced wavelength services that dramatically lower capital and operational costs, while generating increased revenue. For more information, call Corvis at 443/259-4000 or visit the Corvis web site at www.corvis.com.

Corvis, CorWave and the Corvis logo are trademarks and/or service marks of the Corvis Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Note: This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.