PROTEL TO LIGHT NEW OPTICAL INTERNET ACROSS MEXICO WITH INTELLIGENT OPTICAL SOLUTIONS FROM CIENA
Protel Plans To Broaden Service Portfolio With Retail Gigabit Ethernet Services and Wholesale Wavelength Offerings Enabled By New CIENA-Built Optical Network
Mexico City & Linthicum, MD — 08/23/2000Operadora Protel, S.A. de C.V., a leading Mexican telecommunications and Internet service provider, and Ciena Corporation (CIEN), a global leader in intelligent optical networking, today announced plans for Protel to deploy one of Mexico's most advanced and highest capacity optical backbone networks using systems from Ciena's LightWorks™ product family.
With Ciena as Protel's supplier of intelligent optical networking systems, Protel is building the foundation for the Intelligent Optical Internet in which its IP and optical networks will converge to create a highly scalable platform for delivering next-generation services across Mexico, including gigabit Ethernet services and wholesale wavelength services. Protel's optimized network will connect 17 Mexican cities with high-capacity virtual fibers and will help eliminate costly signal conversions from IP to SONET/SDH. Protel expects to begin deploying Ciena's long-haul optical transport systems in September and intends to have its new optical backbone operational in the fourth calendar quarter of 2000.
"Network traffic within Mexico and between Mexico and the United States continues to grow exponentially. Protel is taking action to optimize our network's capabilities, reliability and cost-effectiveness to meet user demand and to exceed customer expectations," said Salvador Alarcon, Protel's Vice President of International Operations. "By partnering with Ciena to build a next-generation optical network across Mexico, we are laying the groundwork for delivering entirely new services to the Mexican market and creating new opportunities for Protel while controlling network operations costs."
"When evaluating the best ways to solve our network challenges, Ciena clearly demonstrated immediate operational advantages, and with this agreement, Protel is committed to providing new customer-driven service offerings based on industry-leading technology," said Pablo Ruiz Galindo, Protel's CEO. "With Ciena, we have found new and exciting business opportunities, and a new approach to our customers that will enable us to create new lines of revenue."
Representing the first network deployment for Ciena in Latin America, Protel will use Ciena's intelligent optical transport systems and network management software to optimize its existing fiber-optic network, to create new virtual networks, and to better manage network availability and efficiency of its new service offerings.
"Ciena is assisting Protel to maximize the value of its existing facilities and to leverage the most advanced networking technologies for delivering new services like gigabit Ethernet and wavelength services to the Mexican market," said M. Arely Castellón, Ciena's Vice President and General Manager, Latin America. "With its Ciena-built network, Protel is putting in place the next-generation infrastructure that creates competitive and economic advantages for itself and for its customers."
Ciena Corporation's market-leading optical networking systems form the core for the new era of networks and services worldwide. Ciena's LightWorks™ architecture enables next-generation optical services and changes the fundamental economics of service-provider networks by simplifying the network and reducing the cost to operate it. Additional information about Ciena can be found at http://www.ciena.com.
Protel, one of Mexico's leading long-distance companies, was founded in 1995. Protel provides long-distance services to commercial customers throughout Mexico, operates one of the country's largest international long-distance gateways and has licenses to carry telecom traffic to the US, Mexico, Central America and the rest of the world. Protel has its own national fiber optic Cisco Powered Network. Protel currently serves 51 cities in Mexico. Protel has offices in the major cities of Mexico and two international offices (in Guatemala and in Dallas, Texas). Protel can be found on the Internet at www.protel.net.mx.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions of the Company that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release, including, but not limited to, the cost savings, deployment timing and network management benefits of the Company's products, are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business, which include the risk factors disclosed in the Company's Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 17, 2000. Forward looking statements include statements regarding the Company'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. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Nicole Anderson
Ciena Corporation
(877) 857 -7377
pr@ciena.com
Marie Downing
Ciena Corporation
(888) 243-6223
ir@ciena.com
