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CIENA INTRODUCES LOW-COST ENTRY SYSTEM FOR BROADBAND SERVICES IN METROPOLITAN NETWORKS

CIENA Continues to Lead In Metro Optical Networking With Launch of Metro One; Metro One To Be Demonstrated at Optical Fiber Communication Conference

Ciena Corporation (CIEN) today announced the launch of MultiWave Metro One™, an intelligent optical transport solution designed to expand the broadband Internet in metropolitan area networks by breaking the cost barriers of legacy SONET/SDH solutions. An inter-exchange carrier already has signed on to become Ciena's first Metro One customer, deploying systems across European city networks. Metro One will be demonstrated at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) in Baltimore, March 7-9, at Ciena's booth (#2813).

Metro One, an entry version of Ciena's MultiWave Metro™ optical transport solution, allows network operators to cost effectively deliver wavelengths directly to customer premises. It offers carriers the benefits of the larger MultiWave Metro system but for a lower cost of entry and with reduced space and power requirements. Metro One, which is available immediately, can be upgraded to the multi-channel MultiWave Metro system when needed.

Metro One significantly broadens the applications for optical networking in the metropolitan area because it is designed for locations where a single optical channel needs to be dropped, such as a business customer site. A typical application might include a MultiWave Metro system at a hub location connected by a fiber ring to Metro One systems deployed at remote sites. This configuration allows carriers to provide broadband services like IP, ATM, SONET/SDH, ESCON and Gigabit Ethernet services on a single platform.

In a traditional metropolitan SONET ring, a carrier is forced to pay for the aggregate rate of traffic running around the ring - not for the bandwidth that actually is used by customers. For instance, to deliver OC-12 (STM-4) service using SONET gear to a total of four customers on a ring, a carrier must deploy an OC-48 (STM-16) ring with costly OC-48 (STM-16) equipment at each customer premise. If a single customer upgrades to a higher rate of service, the provider must either upgrade the entire ring, placing new, even more costly SONET/SDH equipment at each customer location, or acquire a second ring.

"Now carriers can more efficiently deploy and use ring bandwidth by delivering customer-specific capacity," said Steve Alexander, Ciena's chief technology officer. "With Ciena's MultiWave Metro solutions, carriers will be able to deploy on a single fiber pair multiple traffic types, such as voice, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet or IP at multiple transmission rates ranging from OC-3/STM-1 to OC-192/STM-64. And upgrading to higher transmission speeds is easy - often nothing more than inserting a channel card."

Metro One provides a cost-effective solution with reduced space and power requirements compared to legacy equipment, and it significantly lowers the cost of entry to next-generation optical networking in the metropolitan network.

"Ciena certainly is a leading player in the metropolitan optical networking space," said Trans-Formation's Mark Lutkowitz, who recently issued an extensive report on metro networking. "After studying the market and talking with carriers, it is clear that a one-size transport solution does not fit all. Vendors must optimize their products, especially for local applications, where cost, space, and power consumption can be very limiting factors."

Ciena's MultiWave Metro and Metro One solutions enable carriers to provide valuable data services that are protected in linear, ring or mesh topologies. Plus, Ciena's Ring Manager™ embedded software provides management for the ring (or linear chain) from a single point for faster time-to-market for new services and lower operational costs.

"A next-generation metro DWDM solution within easy reach allows carriers to better deal with fiber capacity constraints as well as manage their services more effectively," Lutkowitz said. "In combination with Ciena's announcement of its 10-gigabit transport capability for its metro systems, the Metro One introduction will enhance its leadership position by driving more end-user traffic upstream, driving up demand for the MultiWave Metro."

"Metro One offers all the carrier-class delivery and built-in protection benefits of Ciena's multi-channel MultiWave Metro system but is designed for single-channel applications," Alexander said. "With a low cost of entry, strong operational cost advantages and a platform that can scale to 24 channels of 10-gigabit traffic, we're bringing the value of intelligent optical networking to a wider market of local carriers who won't have to worry about stranding their investment."

MultiWave Metro and Metro One are part of Ciena's LightWorks™ architecture for building intelligent optical networks. Through the LightWorks architecture and the technologies in Ciena's LightWorks Toolkit™, carriers are turning next-generation networks into dynamic, next-generation optical services. With Ciena-built networks, service providers will be able to deliver any-time, any-size, any-priority optical bandwidth.