Illinois-based consortium to bring high-speed, low-latency communications and business services to underserved public sector organizations and local businesses

Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that the Illinois Fiber Resources Group (iFiber) is deploying Ciena’s converged packet optical and packet networking platforms throughout its regional fiber optic network in northwestern Illinois. The deployment will provide community anchor institutions in previously underserved locations with advanced Ethernet service delivery and a cost-effective means to transport high-speed data services at speeds of up to 100G and beyond.

Key Facts:

  • iFiber was developed by a coalition of local government, university and not-for-profit organizations to address the issue of limited broadband capacity, speed and service in nine counties of northwest Illinois. The iFiber network will serve up to 533 anchor institutions including 80 public safety entities  and 100 government facilities. Additionally, many local Internet providers have plans to interconnect with the network to enhance broadband services for households and businesses.
  • Funded through a Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) infrastructure grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the iFiber network will provide broadband access to eligible public sector organizations such as schools, libraries, health care organizations, municipalities, county and public safety facilities. Through iFiber's service provider partners it will also deliver high-speed network transport services to businesses and residential subscribers in the private sector.
  • iFiber will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors, and its 4200 Advanced Services Platform to provide ultra-high bandwidth services throughout its entire network. The solutions will be configured in a 100G metro ring to ensure multi-site connectivity with capacity to handle data growth.
  • Ciena’s packet networking solutions, including its 5410 Service Aggregation Switch, and recently MEF CE2.0-certified 5150 Service Aggregation Switch and 3916 Service Delivery Switch, will provide aggregation and delivery of broadband services to iFiber customers with industry-leading  scalability and protection of services. With MEF CE2.0 certified solutions, iFiber can deliver standardized, predictable and easily managed classes of service for applications such as 4G wireless backhaul, cloud-access and last mile broadband service provider access.
  • Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System will provide comprehensive control and visualization of the deployed optical transport and packet networking elements for seamless multi-layer end-to-end service activation and accurate resource utilization tracking.
  • Ciena      is also providing iFiber with a range of professional services for this      deployment via its Ciena      Specialist Services portfolio, including installation, turn-up      and testing.

Executive Comments:

  • “With iFiber, we intend to bring economic development and      information exchange to businesses, community anchors and residents in      northern Illinois at speeds not possible with the existing infrastructure.      Ciena has been a key contributor to this project from the onset, providing      design and consultation services, as well as a full suite of 100G coherent      optical transport and      packet networking capabilities that allow us to meet the needs of underserved      cities, counties and commercial entities throughout the region.”-          John L. Lewis, chairman of the Board of Directors, iFiber
  • “iFiber is a great example of government, education and the private sector coming together to bring broadband connectivity and economic opportunity to their local communities. Ciena’s converged packet optical and packet networking solutions, both key elements of our OPn network architecture approach, give iFiber a reliable high-speed network with a 100 Gigabit core, 40 Gigabit aggregation layer and the ability to offer Gigabit Ethernet services to ensure its customers have greater access to broadband connectivity.”
    -          Chad Whalen, vice president and general manager, North America field operations, Ciena

Technology Leadership:

  • Ciena      is the pioneer and market leader of coherent optical technology with 20,000      coherent 40G/100G line interfaces shipped to over 100 customers across the      globe, with more than 20 million coherent kilometers deployed. Designed      for network modernization, Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform converges      comprehensive Ethernet, TDM, and WDM capabilities into one platform for      cost-effective delivery of emerging and existing services—from the access      edge to the backbone core.
  • Used      by more than 150 carriers, wireless service providers and cable operators      worldwide, Ciena’s packet networking solutions improve service agility by      concentrating complexities onto fewer platforms, better utilizes the right      network element and technology for the job, economically supports higher      densities and increases overall network capacity, and enables faster      transition from declining legacy services to growing packet services.
  • OPn is      Ciena’s approach for building open, programmable next-generation networks      that scale and automatically adapt to handle the changes created by      cloud/data center migration, mobile broadband and the growing demand for      high-bandwidth applications and services.

Supporting Resources:

About iFiberIllinois Fiber Resources Group (iFiber) is a collaboration of representatives from NIU, LaSalle County, North Central Illinois Council of Governments, the City of Rockford, Boone County and Blackhawk Hills Regional Council. iFiber is a provider of extremely high speed (up to 1Gb) network transport services to the public sector. It provides subsidized access directly to eligible public sector organizations such as schools, libraries, hospitals, municipalities, county and public safety facilities. Through iFiber's Service Provider partners, it also promotes similar high speed network transport services to businesses and residential subscribers in the private sector. For more information visit http://www.ifiber.org.

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. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

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 March 13, 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.