CIENA CEO Statement On Today's Events
Linthicum, MD — 09/14/1998The following can be attributed to Patrick Nettles, president and CEO, Ciena Corporation:
"Today, Ciena is taking a series of steps geared to demonstrate our commitment to the company's original mission established four and a half years ago: simplifying the network and lowering the cost of bandwidth for our customers."
"Four months ago, we announced our intent to merge with Tellabs as a means to expand the scope of that mission. While the strategic basis for this transaction still remains compelling, our short-term financial performance and the effect of recent events to our near-term outlook, has made it highly improbable that we can get shareholder approval without substantially undervaluing Ciena."
"Demonstrating our commitment to move forward, Ciena also announced today an organizational restructuring that will strengthen our sales and marketing so we can focus on our customers, take advantage of new business opportunities and increase shareholder value."
"In addition, we unveiled a new product capability today that illustrates Ciena's ability to deliver new capabilities to the market that further define us as the world's leader in optical networking."
"After all is said and done, Ciena remains a young, vibrant and high growth potential company with a strong balance sheet, a strong workforce that is charged up and a strong growing base of satisfied customers."
To receive copies of today's announcements and view comments by Patrick Nettles, visit our website at www.ciena.com or refer to Business Wire.
Ciena specializes in network transition. We provide the flexible platforms, intelligent software and professional services to build converged networks for enhanced services and applications. With a growing global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.
Forward-looking statements in this release, including statements regarding the anticipated dates to achieve different capacities on a single strand of fiber optic cable and the limited availability of the OC-192 interface in early 1999 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 by such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business. The forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of risk factors disclosed in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 14, 1998.
Nicole Anderson
Ciena Corporation
(877) 857 -7377
pr@ciena.com
Marie Downing
Ciena Corporation
(888) 243-6223
ir@ciena.com
