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eACCESS CHOOSES CIENA METRO SWITCHES FOR JAPAN'S ONLY 10 GIGABIT-CAPABLE NETWORK

Large-Scale Deployment of CIENA's MetroDirector K2 Strengthens Network of Japan's Largest DSL CLEC

Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), a global provider of intelligent optical networking systems, today announced that it is supplying eAccess Ltd., a Tokyo-based broadband data communications company, with optical switching equipment for a metropolitan ring-based network between Osaka and Tokyo, Japan.

The Ciena MetroDirector K2™ is being deployed along a major SONET ring in Tokyo, and along 10G sub-rings connecting Tokyo to Osaka. eAccess expects deployment of the MetroDirector K2 product will continue through March 2003. The initial order placed by eAccess is more than 100 MetroDirector K2 units.

"We chose Ciena's MetroDirector K2 switch because of its flexibility," said Sachio Semmoto, chief executive officer of eAccess. "Ciena was the only vendor able to provide us an optical switch that is OC-192-capable, and that has integrated ATM and Ethernet switching. They also demonstrated excellent customer support."

eAccess is the largest ADSL operator in Japan following NTT East/West, providing ADSL service through 473 NTT local telephone exchanges in eight regions, including Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi and others. The Company aims to expand the geographic coverage of its ADSL services, construct a dedicated IP backbone using dark fiber, develop a range of value-added services (VoIP service and content distribution service), and promote fiber-to-the-home services.

MetroDirector K2 is a next-generation multi-service access and switching platform designed for service providers seeking increased availability of usable, cost-effective bandwidth. The K2 platform has an innovative architecture that helps service providers transcend metro area gridlock, while extracting increased revenues and performance from their existing infrastructure.

"This deal is particularly meaningful for us because it is the first large-scale deployment of our MetroDirector K2 metro switching product," said Gary Smith, president and chief executive officer of Ciena Corporation. "We are encouraged by this relationship, and look forward to supporting eAccess's needs into the future."

Ciena's product family spans the critical areas of next-generation intelligent optical networking. With the products that form Ciena's revolutionary LightWorks architecture, service providers can build a LightWorks network that reaches from the core of the network to the access edge. Ciena is the only next-generation provider to offer carriers a complete range of products in long-distance optical transport, metropolitan optical transport, intelligent optical switching and network management.