High-capacity, adaptable network delivers increased capacity and flexibility for cable, Internet and video service

Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Cablevision Argentina, one of the largest Cable TV and Internet service providers in Argentina, is deploying Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform to upgrade its inter-urban broadband backbone across Argentina. The network enhancements will enable Cablevision Argentina to provide high-speed Internet service, expanded cable offerings and uncompressed HD video transport to its growing subscriber base.

Key Facts:

  • Cablevision Argentina is      deploying the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, a critical component of Ciena’s OPn architecture,      to      upgrade its network to a ROADM-based 100G agile optical foundation. The deployment      will provide the flexibility needed to re-route wavelengths across the      network, reduce latency and help the provider efficiently connect regional      nodes across long distances. This network upgrade involves 30      nodes across Cablevision Argentina’s footprint, upgrading connections from      Buenos Aires to other regional centers.
  • Ciena’s 6500 will deliver Cablevision Argentina      immediate bandwidth gains, ensuring that it has the capacity to quickly      and reliably deliver a mix of new and existing services and      protocols—including OTN, SDH and Ethernet—at speeds of 1G to 10G, 100G,      and beyond. This upgrade is adding new capacity over existing infrastructure,      ensuring that Cablevision Argentina can maximize the value of its assets.
  • Cablevision Argentina will also benefit from new      packet networking capabilities on the 6500, which will give the option      to integrate packet switching and traffic management alongside OTN      transport to cost-effectively address surging demand for Ethernet services      and connectivity. Designed for easy customization, the packet networking      functions on the 6500 will also give Cablevision Argentina the ability to      dial packet services up or down depending on customer demand.
  • Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System will provide point-and-click service provisioning for faster service turn-up and end-to-end visibility to ensure that Cablevision Argentina can effectively meet all end-customer service level agreements (SLAs). The advanced management software also improves troubleshooting in the event of a network outage or alarm.
  • A team of in-region experts from Ciena is supporting this upgrade from start to finish. Ciena offers a full range of professional services via its Ciena Specialist Services portfolio, including network management, migration and maintenance.

Executive Comments:

  • “Ciena’s solution gives us      the flexibility to gradually scale our network and expand capacity across      a huge geography. This will allow us to offer high-speed Internet, cable      and business services to our growing customer base. Moving forward, Ciena’s      6500 will help us reduce the complexity of transporting and managing our      optical infrastructure.”
    -          Guillermo Fiorenza, head of transport network architecture at Cablevision Argentina
  • “Our packet optical portfolio allows carriers like Cablevision Argentina to not only      scale networks gradually to meet subscriber demands, but also to address the growing demand for Ethernet      services and connectivity with integrated packet switching capabilities.      Building on our long-standing relationship with Cablevision Argentina, we      look forward to supporting this next phase of their network modernization      efforts and making them even more competitive in the marketplace.”
    -          Fabio Medina, vice president of sales and general manager, Latin America at Ciena

Technology Background:

  • OPn is Ciena’s approach for building open,      programmable next-generation networks that scale and automatically adapt      to satisfy subscriber’s demands for high-bandwidth services like HD video,      cloud computing and mobile broadband.
  • Ciena is      the pioneer and market leader of coherent optical technology with 27,000      coherent 40G/100G line interfaces shipped to over 150 customers across the      globe, with more than 25 million coherent kilometers deployed.

Ciena at Futurecom 2013:

  • Ciena is      showcasing its converged packet optical and packet networking portfolios at      Futurecom (booth B 14)      October 21-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Steve Alexander, senior vice president      and CTO is speaking the panel: “Technology      Trends Driving the Future of Society” on Tuesday,      October 22 at 2:40 pm.  John      Hawkins, advisor, product & technology marketing and Patricia Vello,      senior sales director will participate in the breakout session: “Network Service      Opportunities in the New Cloud World”      on      October 23 at 2:40 pm.

Supporting Resources:

About Cablevision ArgentinaCablevisión is one of the largest Cable TV and Internet service providers in Argentina.  It began its operations in 1981.  With more than 3,500,000 customers, it provides pay TV services in 12 provinces (Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Neuquén, Río Negro, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Misiones,  Chaco, Formosa and Salta), as well as in Buenos Aires city and Uruguay.  The company offers a basic programming service which includes 75 channels and a Digital Pack with an on-screen interactive guide, more than 40 different channels which are added to the current ones and 50 channels of the most varied music. Cablevisión also incorporated High Definition Service, with 30 HD channels and PPV Service (Pay Per View). In 2012, Cablevisión launched On Demand, a service that allows customers to access content at the decided time, through the remote control.  In September 1997, Cablevisión launched Fibertel, its internet service provider. Fibertel has 1,500,000 customers and offers 3, 6, 12 y 30 Mbps services.

About Ciena
Ciena is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with OPn, its approach for building open next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter @Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena. Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website at www.ciena.com/investors, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 11, 2013. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena'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. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.