CIENA Announces Operational Reductions

Linthicum, MD — 09/20/2002 Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), a leading provider of intelligent optical networking systems and software, today announced a workforce reduction of approximately 450 employees, or approximately 17 percent of its workforce, as part of the Company’s ongoing efforts to align its operations with the current telecom industry environment.

“The past year has been a challenging one for all of us in the telecom industry, but challenge often leads to opportunity,” said Gary Smith, Ciena’s president and CEO. “As difficult as today’s actions are for us as a company, Ciena is fortunate to be significantly better positioned, both financially and from a product offering perspective, than most, if not all of our competitors. We continue to support all of our product lines, delivering comprehensive next-generation networking solutions and superior service and support to our customers worldwide.”

Ciena estimates that the actions taken today will generate between $50 to $55 million in annualized cost savings, including approximately $25 to $30 million at the operating expense level, prior to restructuring-related charges. Ciena expects that the majority of the cost savings will be in place by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter, 2002. Affected employees will be paid through November 19, 2002 and will be eligible for additional severance packages, including outplacement assistance and training.

The Company expects to record a restructuring charge of between $75 to $80 million in its fourth fiscal quarter associated with today’s workforce reduction, lease terminations, non-cancelable lease costs and the write-down of certain property, equipment and leasehold improvements.

“Because of our solid financial position, Ciena’s been able to pursue a measured approach, thoughtfully adapting our business to the still-evolving telecom environment,” said Smith. “We’ll continue to pursue a strategy that balances investment in our business with careful expense management because we firmly believe it is in the best long-term interests of our customers, shareholders and employees.”

“The actions taken today are part of Ciena’s ongoing efforts to manage our business back to profitability as soon as possible without sacrificing what we believe are future revenue and growth opportunities,” Smith continued. “We believe today’s actions, along with our ongoing efforts to manage expenses and prioritize resources, will help us reach our goal of lowering our quarterly operating expenses to the mid-$80 million range by our fiscal third quarter, 2003.”