Light Reading Names Force10 as Finalist in Three Inaugural Leading Lights Awards Categories.

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Light Reading has named Force10 Networks a finalist in three categories for its first annual Leading Lights industry awards program, which recognizes the achievements of top public and private companies. Light Reading recognized Force10 in every category for which it qualified, including Top IPO Candidate, Best New Product for a private company and Best Marketing for a private company.

"This recognition caps an extraordinary year for Force10 which included the introduction of the TeraScale E-Series, a next generation switch/router that more than doubles the Gigabit and 10 Gigabit density of the nearest competitor and definitively establishes Force10's engineering as second to none," said Andrew Feldman, vice president of marketing for Force10 Networks. "It was also a year when Force10 quadrupled its customer base, gained significant market share and opened new territories around the world."

In addition to the Top IPO Candidate and Best Marketing finalist selections, Force10's TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers was named as a finalist for Best New Product from a private company. The TeraScale E-Series supports unparalleled Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet densities and can process more than one billion packets per second, the highest in the industry. With such high density, the TeraScale E-Series can process more traffic on a single chassis, simplifying networks and reducing management and operational costs. According to The Tolly Group, the Force10 TeraScale E-Series is the industry's first Terabit Ethernet switch/router.

In May 2004, Light Reading named Force10 the number one private company on its list of Top Private Companies, calling the late-stage start-up, "one of the leading players in one of telecom's hottest markets - 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching."

More than 230 public and private companies submitted 386 nominations. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 15, following Light Reading's Telecom Investment Conference at the landmark Plaza Hotel in New York City.

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is the pioneer in high performance switching and routing. Based on a revolutionary system architecture that delivers best-in-class resiliency and massive scalability, Force10's TeraScale E-Series switch/routers ensure predictable application performance, increase network availability, and reduce operating costs. Today, many of the world's largest Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks depend on Force10 Networks. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.force10networks.com.

Force10, E-Series, EtherScale, TeraScale and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.