SUNBELT TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO RESELL CIENA NETWORKING PORTFOLIO AS SOLUTIONS ALLIANCE MEMBER
CIENA to Join Sunbelt in Exhibiting at USTA Telecom ’03
Linthicum, MD — 10/09/2003Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), a leading global provider of innovative network solutions, today announced that Sunbelt Telecommunications has joined Ciena’s Solutions Alliance program as a value-added reseller (VAR). Sunbelt, a full service telecommunications equipment distributor, will sell and support Ciena’s LightWorks™ Product Family to its nationwide carrier and enterprise customer base.
The partnership enables Sunbelt to offer its customers Ciena’s broad product portfolio to help them deliver expanded network solutions for existing and emerging applications. Ciena’s suite of advanced service-generating platforms enables Sunbelt to immediately assist its customers in meeting their communications network requirements. Sunbelt’s demonstrated ability to deliver complete end-to-end network solutions enhances Ciena’s capacity to meet the needs of service providers and large enterprises.
Ciena will join Sunbelt in exhibiting at the upcoming USTA Telecom ’03 Conference (Booth #116) from October 11 – 15 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The companies will showcase Ciena’s MetroDirector K2™ and ONLINE Edge™ multiservice platforms.
“Our relationship with Sunbelt extends Ciena’s market reach – notably in the independent telephone company and utility marketplaces – and further enables us to help service providers improve network economics by enhancing service profitability and network efficiency,” said Francois Locoh-Donou, vice president of marketing at Ciena. “As a respected supplier with an established network of clients, Sunbelt brings to Ciena a new avenue for providing customers solutions that help capitalize on advanced data and traditional service markets.”
Ciena’s Solutions Alliance program is designed for partners that represent Ciena’s optical and data networking products and services. The program is part of Ciena’s collaborative efforts with third parties to develop and deliver expanded intelligent networking solutions to effectively meet the specific needs of carriers and enterprises with differentiated services and carrier-class reliability. Ciena provides its Solutions Alliance partners training and certification programs, sales and design tools, co-marketing programs, and a dedicated partner website.
Ciena Corporation delivers innovative network solutions to the world's largest service providers, increasing the cost-efficiency of current services while enabling the creation of new carrier-class data services built upon the existing network infrastructure. Additional information about Ciena can be found at www.ciena.com.
Sunbelt Telecommunications, in its 20th year of business, is a national telecommunications distributor and provider of related value-added solutions. Sunbelt stocks only the highest quality equipment, including Transmission, Optical Networking, Wireless, Enterprise, LAN, OSP, Power & Protection, Cabinets, Racks & Hardware, and Connectivity equipment. In addition to supplying service providers with networking solutions, Sunbelt also provides value-added services that optimize the supply-chain process. These services/solutions include kitting/staging, rack/cabinet integration, dedicated inventories and just-in-time deliveries, network design and engineering configurations. Sunbelt is a certified woman-owned and managed business enterprise and registered for ISO9001:2000 and TL9000. For more information, please visit www.sunbelt.com or call 1-800-SUNBELT (786-2358).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions of Ciena (the Company) that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release, including but not limited to the features and benefits of Ciena’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 21, 2003. 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 Michael Smith or Roebie Protacio
Sunbelt Telecommunications
(800) SUNBELT (786-2358)
marketing@sunbelt.com
Marie Downing
Ciena Corporation
(888) 243-6223
ir@ciena.com
