Internet2 and Ciena Partner to Deploy CoreDirector Multiservice Switch on Advanced Nationwide Research and Education Network.

Technology to Enable Dynamic Ethernet Lightpaths Between Internet2 Member Institutions

ANN ARBOR, Mich. & LINTHICUM, Md. -- Internet2 and Ciena([R]) Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) today announced a partnership to deploy Ciena's CoreDirector([R]) Multiservice Switch in the new Internet2 nationwide advanced research and education network. Ciena also becomes an Internet2 Corporate Partner, the highest level partnership offered, enhancing its relationship with Internet2 to further advance the exploration and development of next-generation optical switching technology.

Ciena's CoreDirector platform will support the next-generation of Internet applications and resources used regularly by Internet2 member institutions. The platform offers a robust feature set including support for optical and Ethernet switching services as well as use of a standards-based intelligent control plane that enable Internet2 to provide dynamic bandwidth on demand for its members via automated lightpath provisioning capabilities.

"The research and education community today requires networking solutions that create a truly dynamic environment to support the most demanding applications and research our members can imagine," said Steve Cotter, Internet2's director of network services. "By partnering with Ciena, we are deploying a cost-effective infrastructure that will provide our members instant network capacity and scalability plus more dynamic control over their networking resources."

CoreDirector also will serve as a grooming switch, enabling multiple Ethernet and SONET/SDH sub-wavelength data paths to be delivered with maximum efficiency across Internet2's new infrastructure. In doing so, CoreDirector provides more available bandwidth to Internet2 member organizations and a more efficient allocation of network capacity.

"Ciena's unique multiservice capabilities will allow connector organizations like the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads to better match bandwidth resources to the diverse and often changing requirements of the individual institutions we connect to the Internet2 infrastructure," said Jerry Sobieski, director of research initiatives for Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) and project manager of the DRAGON (Dynamic Resource Allocation via GMPLS Optical Networks) project. "In addition, our organization's collaboration with Ciena via the DRAGON project, which is investigating the use of optical control plane capabilities across administrative boundaries, will play a key role in enabling the dynamic, on-demand optical services that the Internet2 community has envisioned."

CoreDirector creates a highly-dependable and highly-resilient network for Internet2 providing carrier-class reliability and supporting both automatic protection switching and mesh-based network restoration for greater survivability in catastrophic failures. This capability ensures uninterrupted capacity to the research and education community's critical global experiments and collaborations. Further, with its inherent flexibility and scalability, the platform will provide Internet2 the ability to perform in-service enhancements and upgrades without disrupting network traffic. As a result, the Internet2 community will benefit from lower network equipment costs as well as greater operational savings.

"By deploying CoreDirector, Internet2 is taking advantage of Ciena's highly-adaptable FlexSelect Architecture, which uses advanced software to drive network flexibility, manageability and reliability, and as a result, is expanding the horizons of what researchers can accomplish." said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer at Ciena. "We will leverage our expanded relationship with Internet2 to continue our pursuit of innovation to support ubiquitous and dynamic research network connectivity worldwide."

Through this agreement, Ciena builds on its longtime Internet2 membership and close collaboration with the research and education community to become an Internet2 Corporate Partner. Furthermore, Ciena recently began participation in Internet2's Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) project, a national scale network test bed developed in 2004 by a group of collaborators, which includes corporate members, network researchers, and network engineers, to investigate next-generation scalable architectures. The HOPI project has served as a model for Internet2's new network infrastructure and deployment.

Cotter added, "Internet2 provides Ciena a live network environment as a leading-edge test bed to experiment with new technologies and to develop the best methods for deployment and use of these emerging applications and technologies. We look forward to a long engagement with Ciena within the Internet2 community as we pioneer the advancements in Internet development that will unlock new frontiers for research, academia, and the commercial marketplace."

In June 2006, Internet2 announced in a joint release with Level 3 Communications, its aggressive plan to develop and deploy a powerful and flexible advanced nationwide research network to provide enhanced IP services as well as leading-edge optical services to its members. The new network is currently under deployment, with full operation scheduled for mid-2007. When operational, Internet2 members will have access to 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) of capacity, more than 10 times that of its current network.

About Internet2

Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by the research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes the missions of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the development, deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies. Internet2 brings the U.S. research and academic community together with technology leaders from industry, government and the international community to undertake collaborative efforts that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet. For more information: http://www.internet2.edu/.

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 Ciena 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.