Corvis Delivers Industry's First All-Optical Switch to Broadwing Communications for Commercial Deployment.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

The Corvis All-Optical Switch Provides 2.4 Terabit Switching

Capacity, Creating the Industry's First All-Optical Multi-Terabit

Point of Presence

Corvis Corporation (NASDAQ: CORV), a leader in delivering intelligent all-optical networking solutions, today announced the delivery of the industry's first all-optical switch to Broadwing Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Broadwing Inc. (NYSE: BRW).

This marks the first time that a carrier will install an all-optical, multi-terabit switch for commercial use in a nationwide network.

"The deployment of the first all-optical switch in a commercial network is a major milestone in this industry," said Dr. David Huber, president and CEO of Corvis Corporation. "For years, the industry has talked about the promise of all-optical switching products, but Corvis is the first to deliver. All-optical technology has been our focus since the company was founded, and we're very excited about the future of this technology and the impact it will have on the industry."

The unprecedented growth in data-intensive applications such as Internet access, e-mail, e-commerce, streaming video, web-hosting, and mission critical business applications has placed increased demand on carriers' networks. Service providers are meeting this demand by designing their networks for multi-terabit capacity.

The Corvis all-optical solution gives carriers 2.4 terabit capacity traffic management.

"Corvis' delivery of the industry's first all-optical switch to Broadwing is a defining moment in our industry," said Rick Ellenberger, president and CEO of Broadwing Inc. "The integration of the Corvis all-optical switch into the world's first all-optical network, now being deployed by Broadwing, will enable us to deliver the killer platform that makes possible new applications and services for our customers."

The Corvis all-optical switch solves one of the key operational issues for today's carriers. Corvis delivers 2.4 terabit capacity management in a mere fraction of the footprint required in competitors' commercially available switches as well as other proposed switching solutions.

The Corvis all-optical switch also enables service providers to switch network traffic without having to undergo unnecessary and expensive optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical conversions, as with all other switching equipment commercially available in the industry.

Transmitting and switching traffic entirely in the optical form as wavelengths of light results in higher performance and reliability for carriers, while significantly reducing the capital and operational costs associated with today's electrical/optical hybrid switching technology. The Corvis all-optical switch is a key network element to enable point and click provisioning of wave services.

"Delivery of all-optical switching is a tremendous breakthrough in this industry and will provide the catalyst for service providers to begin deployment of next-generation Internet and application services," said Andrew McCormick, senior analyst at Aberdeen Group. "Corvis has established an important benchmark in all-optical networking. It is well ahead of the expected timetable for commercial deployment of these systems."

The Corvis CorWave product suite offers the industry's first end-to-end all-optical network solution that provides high-capacity, all-optical switching and ultra-long distance transport with intelligent network management required for next-generation, terabit Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

Corvis' integrated all-optical network solution supports both 2.5 and 10 Gigabit per second transmission.

About Corvis

Corvis Corporation is a leading provider of all-optical networks founded by Dr. David Huber, a pioneer in the field of optical communications. The company is revolutionizing the way communications traffic is moved in the new Internet-driven economy by deploying the industry's first all-optical network providing integrated all-optical switching, ultra-long distance transport and network management.

Corvis products and services deliver all-optical network intelligence and mesh network capability.

This allows communication service providers to realize a significant gain in network capacity using existing fiber in the field and improve their competitiveness by delivering new and existing services and applications more rapidly, while significantly reducing the overall capital and operational cost of building and maintaining their network.

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.

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.