e|net Selects Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions to Advance Ireland’s Network Infrastructure

Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet advanced demarcation platforms to support sophisticated QoS and SLAs

LINTHICUM, Md. & LIMERICK, Ireland--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Ciena^® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that e|net, the private company that manages the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) programme on behalf of the Irish Government, has selected Ciena’s 3916 and 3930 Service Delivery Switches to improve its regional network infrastructure. The advanced demarcation platforms’ low-touch provisioning and embedded service benchmarking capabilities enable a simple deployment model and speedy set-up of new customer connections, allowing e|net to easily expand its Carrier Ethernet network and offer its service provider customers sophisticated Quality of Service (QoS) and Service Level Agreement (SLA) capabilities.

“Carriers rely on e|net for quick and reliable access to connectivity and Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions offer us the portfolio needed to effectively build and expand our Carrier Ethernet network. That means e|net can quickly light new connections for customers, providing them with the guaranteed service quality they require.”

Key Facts

• e|net provides open access bandwidth to licensed operators with an advanced fibre network that covers 94 towns and cities throughout Ireland.
• The sophisticated QoS capabilities of Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet platforms enable e|net to carry a wide range of traffic types and data rates. The Ciena technology also enables the network operator to tailor Ethernet services to the specific requirements of its service provider customers and easily demonstrate that individual SLA requirements are being fulfilled.
• Ciena’s 3916 Service Delivery Switch provides e|net with an advanced operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) suite, which includes embedded RFC 2544 service level agreement benchmark testing, meaning that all installed services can be tested remotely from the Network Operations Centre, simplifying the lighting of new connections and troubleshooting existing ones.
• Ciena’s 3930 Service Delivery Switch enhances e|net’s service portfolio by introducing support for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Its support of Synchronous Ethernet, sophisticated OAM and highly reliable architecture have also made it the product of choice for wireless backhaul and Ethernet business services applications.
• The deployment extends e|net’s current Carrier Ethernet network, which already uses Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions, including Ciena’s 5305, 5150, and 5140 Service Aggregation Switches and 3940, 3920, and LE-311v Service Delivery Switches.
• The network also includes Ciena’s Ethernet Service Manager (ESM), an advanced solution for automated service creation, activation and management.

Executive Comments

• “Carriers rely on e|net for quick and reliable access to connectivity and Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions offer us the portfolio needed to effectively build and expand our Carrier Ethernet network. That means e|net can quickly light new connections for customers, providing them with the guaranteed service quality they require.”
  - Conal Henry, chief executive officer at e|net
• “Ciena and e|net have worked closely together to build a resilient and flexible Carrier Ethernet network, to which this agreement is the latest addition. This deployment demonstrates the value of Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions, which significantly accelerate and automate service creation and activation, equipping e|net to rapidly create tailored services that meet the needs of individual customers.”
  - John-Paul Hemingway, vice president of strategic transformation at Ciena

Technology Leadership

• Ciena's CES portfolio combines intelligent devices and software to create low-touch, high-velocity Carrier Ethernet access and metro networks creating a common, consistent way to deliver the full range of Ethernet services that significantly accelerates and automates service creation and activation.
• Ciena’s ESM is a ground-breaking carrier-grade, automated service activation, creation and management platform for Ciena's CES portfolio. The ESM enables users to efficiently build and deploy large-scale Carrier Ethernet networks, reduce time to market for new services, accelerate service revenue, maximize service availability, assure service quality, and leverage existing systems.
• Customers of Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet include more than 150 carriers, wireless service providers and cable operators worldwide, with an installed base of nearly 250,000 Ethernet-enabled sites.

Supporting Resources

• Product overview: 3916 Service Delivery Switch
• Product overview: 3930 Service Delivery Switch
• Whitepaper: The Strategic Imperative of an Ethernet Metro Aggregation Network

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 compete. With focused innovation, Ciena brings together the reliability and capacity of optical networking with the flexibility and economics of Ethernet, unified by a software suite that delivers the industry’s leading network automation. 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

About e|net

e|net is the Irish owned and managed company which holds the concession to manage, maintain and operate 2 phases of the State’s Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) programme.

The MAN infrastructure enables 94 towns across the country with an advanced technology platform capable of delivering cutting-edge communications and information services.

Phase 1 towns - Athlone, Ballina, Belmullet, Carlow Town, Carrickmacross, Carrick-on-Shannon, Cavan Town, Clonmel, Cork City, Dundalk, Dungarvan, Drogheda, Galway City, Gweedore, Kingscourt, Kilkenny City, Kiltimagh, Letterkenny, Limerick City, Manorhamilton, Monaghan Town, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Roscommon Town, Sligo Town, Tullamore, Waterford City and Wexford Town.

Phase 2 towns - Abbeyfeale, Ardee, Athenry, Bailieborough, Ballinasloe, Ballinrobe, Ballybofey, Ballyshannon, Banagher, Bantry, Birr, Blarney, Blessington, Buncrana, Bundoran, Cahir, Carndonagh, Carrick-on-Suir, Carrigaline, Cashel, Castleblaney, Castleisland, Charleville, Claremorris, Clifden, Clonee, Clones, Cootehill, Donabate, Donegal Town, Dunboyne, Dunmanway, Dunshaughlin, Edenderry, Fermoy, Gort, Kanturk, Kells, Kilcoole, Killarney, Kilrush, Kinsale, Knock, Listowel, Longford Town, Loughrea, Lusk, Midleton, Mitchelstown, Navan, Nenagh, Newcastle West, Newtownmountkennedy, Passage West, Portrane, Ringaskiddy, Roscrea, Skerries, Skibbereen, Stranorlar, Templemore, Thomastown, Tipperary Town, Tralee, Trim and Youghal.

The company provides cost-effective telecommunications products and services to authorised operators on a wholesale basis, and is committed to the development of the regions in Ireland through encouraging the open delivery of affordable, state of the art broadband services. For more information see: www.enet.ie

Lower-case font should always be used for e|net or e-net, even after a full-stop.

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-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 22, 2011. 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.