Ciena and Interoute Extend High-speed Optical Networking to Eastern Europe

Ciena’s automated optical transport solutions offer Interoute on-demand network capacity upgrades and enable new Ethernet services for rapidly growing territory

Linthicum, MD and London – 10/30/2006

Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced an expansion of its relationship with Interoute, owner of Europe’s most advanced next-generation voice and data network, to upgrade and expand the operator’s Eastern European network. The Ciena deployment will position Interoute as the first service provider to offer carrier-class 10-Gigabit wavelength and 10-Gigabit Ethernet services on-demand to enterprise customers in emerging European Union countries. The deployment has already commenced and is scheduled for completion in early 2007.

The upgrade includes Ciena’s CoreStream® Agility Optical Transport System and ON-Center® Network and Service Management Suite to dramatically improve Interoute’s cost of delivering voice, video and data services to its growing customer base across Central and Eastern Europe. With the unique ability to automate wavelength activation and select services on demand without the need for manual intervention via Ciena’s FlexiPort technology, the CoreStream and ON-Center combination enables Interoute to more efficiently manage bandwidth, reduce provisioning times and accelerate service deployment to speed both time to market and revenue.

The rapidly growing Eastern European telecommunications market is predicted to reach $20.6 billion (USD) in fixed network service revenue by 2010*, according to global IT research analyst firm Gartner. Interoute’s pan-European next-generation network covers 35,000 kilometers, spanning 77 cities in 21 countries and includes every major European business center. Interoute’s network is used by all major incumbents and governments around the world, as well as more than 14,000 corporate customers. In addition, more than #1 billion of e-commerce is handled by Interoute’s data centers every day, making it a key part of Europe’s digital supply chain. Interoute’s network extends east to cover the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Bulgaria also was added this year, when Interoute acquired Bulgarian telecommunication company Telecom Partners Network (TPN) as part of its strategy of continued eastward expansion.

“Interoute is at the forefront of network innovation, and Ciena’s optical transport and network management technology plays a critical part in enhancing our portfolio of services across the rapidly growing Eastern European market,” said Matthew Finnie, Interoute’s CTO. “Leveraging the flexibility of Ethernet and the reliability of SDH, we will be able to support the next generation of services while improving the efficiency of our existing offerings.”

Finnie continued, “In places like Eastern Europe, our customer base is both dynamic and extremely sensitive to service impacts, so we looked to implement a flexible, carrier-class platform with a proven track record of next-generation service delivery and reliability. We found Ciena’s CoreStream Agility platform - and FlexSelect Architecture - not only meets our needs today, but will allow us to adapt to the future needs of our customers and network.”

Ciena’s CoreStream Agility is the industry’s most advanced multi-haul optical transport system and the only to offer regional, long-haul and ultra long-haul capability in a single platform. Combined with ON-Center, the platform provides automated management and provisioning capabilities that reduce network operating costs, as well as programmable optical interfaces for capex reduction and investment protection. In addition, CoreStream Agility’s standards-based, all-optical design ensures platform longevity while the network scales to support 100 Gbps per wavelength without a forklift upgrade.

Francois Locoh-Donou, Ciena’s vice president and general manager for the EMEA region, says the new contract builds on Ciena’s six-year relationship with Interoute, including previous deployments of the CoreStream platform as well as the CoreDirector® optical switch.

Locoh-Donou said, “As an incumbent supplier to Interoute, this expansion of our footprint in the network is testament to Ciena’s ability to continually meet customer needs over the long-term as the market and customer needs evolve. We remain focused on increasing the value of our customers’ networks and delivering the highest levels of network performance.”

*Gartner Forecast: Fixed Public Network Services, Eastern Europe, 2004-2010

ABOUT CIENA

Ciena Corporation is the network specialist, focused on expanding the possibilities for its customers’ networks while reducing their cost of ownership. The company’s systems, software and services target and cure specific network pain points so that telcos, cable operators, governments and enterprises can best exploit the new applications that are driving their businesses forward.

ABOUT INTEROUTE

Interoute is Europe’s fastest growing communications technology provider and owner operator of Europe’s most advanced and densely connected voice and data network, encompassing over 35,000kms of fibre. Its full-service next generation network serves more than 14,000 customers from retail to aerospace, every major European incumbent as well as the major operators of North America, East and South Asia, governments, universities and research agencies. These organisations find Interoute the ideal partner for hosting content, providing wholesale transit services, corporate access or creating new services. With established operations throughout mainland Europe and in North America, Interoute also owns and operates dense city networks throughout Europe’s major business centres. More than #1 billion in e-commerce transactions flows through its data centres each day, making Interoute a key part of Europe’s Digital Supply Chain. www.interoute.com.

NOTE TO INVESTORS

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 August 31, 2006. 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.

Contact Information

Nicole Anderson

Press Contact

Ciena Corporation

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