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CIENA Completes Lightera Transaction Board Changes Announced

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Lightera Networks Inc. According to the agreement announced March 15, 1999, Ciena acquired all outstanding shares of Lightera in exchange for approximately 20.6 million shares of Ciena common stock. Based on the closing price of Ciena's common stock on Wednesday, March 31, the transaction is valued at approximately $463.5 million.

The transaction will be accounted for as pooling of interest transaction and will qualify as a tax-free reorganization. Ciena expects to file shortly with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a Form-8K restating the Company's historic results to reflect the addition of Lightera's business.

"We are pleased and excited with customer reaction to Ciena's LightWorks™ Initiative and we're thrilled to have the people of Lightera join the Ciena team," said Patrick Nettles, president and chief executive officer of Ciena.

Ciena's LightWorks Initiative was launched in mid-March with the Company's announced combination with both Lightera and Omnia Communications, Inc. and is designed to change the fundamental economics of service provider networks by dramatically reducing the number of network elements, thereby lowering carriers' capital expenses and network operating costs.

Announced in early March, with commercial availability expected in the second half of 1999, Lightera's Core Director intelligent optical core switch is targeted at delivering scalable, ultra-high density, high-capacity switching, as well as real-time provisioning with order-of-magnitude improvements in carrier infrastructure cost of ownership. A suite of protection and restoration capabilities allows carriers to build mesh, ring or hybrid mesh-ring optical cores without legacy SONET equipment.

Completion of Ciena's acquisition of Omnia Communications, Inc., also announced on March 15, 1999, remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected in the June/July timeframe.

Organization

Effective immediately, Jagdeep Singh, Lightera's president and CEO assumes the role of Division President for the Core Switching Division of Ciena formed by Lightera's business, which will remain in Cupertino, CA.

In conjunction with the closing of the Lightera transaction, Ciena also announced action on planned changes to its Board of Directors. Venture capitalists Jon Bayless and Cliff Higgerson, each of whom joined the Board in April 1994 in connection with the early financing of the Company, have stepped down, and Mr. Singh has been named to take Mr. Higgerson's position on the Board. The Company expects to announce a new director to fill Mr. Bayless' position in the next several weeks, and has an active search underway for possible Board expansion.

Said Nettles of Bayless and Higgerson, "During their respective tenures as Directors, Ciena grew from just a handful of employees with a product idea, to the over 1,400 employees and market leadership position we have today. We are grateful to Jon and Cliff for their help in making that happen."