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CIENA Responds to AT&T Decision Regarding DWDM System Evaluations Expresses Disappointment with Decision, but No Change to Long-Term Business Outlook

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) today provided further comment in response to a communication received from AT&T in which AT&T indicated that it will not pursue further evaluation of Ciena's dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems.

"The timing of this morning's phone call from AT&T was troubling and surprising in light of the imminent Ciena and Tellabs' shareholder meetings, and the news is of course disappointing," said Patrick Nettles, Ciena's president and chief executive officer. "I want to assure Ciena's customers, stockholders, employees and competitors that we at Ciena aren't easily discouraged."

Nettles continued, "We believed that AT&T's decision would be viewed as important by the market and therefore necessitated immediate disclosure and the subsequent adjourning of the Ciena special shareholder meeting. However, we see nothing that changes Ciena's business outlook as described in the joint Ciena/Tellabs proxy statement."

Nettles concluded, "We continue to believe that Ciena is the market leader for high-capacity DWDM systems and that our future prospects remain strong."

Ciena has shared this information with Tellabs. The Board of Directors of Ciena continues to recommend shareholders' approval of the merger with Tellabs in the terms described in the proxy statement.