Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that its CN 5305™ Service Aggregation Switch received the highest possible ranking – 5 out of 5 diamonds – in Broadband Gear Report’s(BGR) 2009 Diamond Technology Reviews. Based on BGR’s product rating system of 0 to 5 diamonds, a score of 5 is considered to be “a superb product that sets a new standard for performance and provides groundbreaking new technical milestones.” Platforms within Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery (CESD) portfolio (CESD) portfolio, which includes CN 5305, have been deployed by more than 100 carriers, wireless service providers, cable operators and new entrants in 25 countries, including recent deployments by Clearwire and Mzima Networks.

Based on Ciena’s field-proven True Carrier Ethernet® technology, CN 5305 is optimized for metro edge networks and delivers high-density Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connectivity to the subscriber edge and high-performance 10GbE uplinks to the service provider core. It combines the low cost and high capacity of Ethernet with the reliability, management and service quality typically associated with SONET/SDH systems. CN 5305 features a software architecture based on a common, service-aware operating system that is used across Ciena’s entire CESD portfolio, providing a consistent deployment model and zero-touch, automated device configuration and service provisioning that can result in up to 60 percent faster service provisioning and as much as 40 percent reduction in operational expense versus platforms that rely on manual configurations.

"Ciena's CN 5305 Service Aggregation Switch received superlative rankings in this year's Diamond Technology Reviews program with the judges paying particular notice to its robustness,” said Laura Hamilton, editor-in-chief at BGR. “The panelists who reviewed the solution saw it as an elegant way for cable operators to contend with mixing and managing multiple service encapsulation formats and handing them off successfully between the access and core networks.”

The Diamond Technology Reviews are an annual product rating program where a group of senior broadband industry engineering professionals organized by BGR’s editorial team analyze product applications submitted by the broadband industry’s vendor community. This year, the judges included executives from Armstrong, Charter, Cox, Rogers, Suddenlink and Sunflower Broadband. The full results of the judging will be published both in BGR as well as in a special print issue to be distributed at SCTE’s Cable-Tec Expo, from October 28-30, 2009 in Denver, Colo. Ciena will be showcasing CN 5305 at the Expo in Booth #11033.

“This recognition by BGR’s panel of technical industry executives further validates the customer traction we’re seeing for flexible Carrier Ethernet solutions that can cost-effectively scale to support the growing capacity needs and service diversity of today’s metro edge networks,” said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer at Ciena. “CN 5305 achieves this through its unique pay-as-you-grow architecture and innovative software automation that lets service providers rapidly modify and introduce new services – across a broad range of relevant applications, including wireless backhaul and Ethernet business, residential and wholesale services.”

About Ciena

Ciena specializes in practical network transition. We offer leading network infrastructure solutions, intelligent software and a comprehensive services practice to help our customers use their networks to fundamentally change the way they compete. With a global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. 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 Broadband Gear Report (BGR)

Broadband Gear Report – www.broadbandgear.net – was launched in 2004 by Hermes Media & Research and has become the leading online product and deployment alert service for broadband engineering professionals. The Diamond Technology Reviews was launched in 2005 to answer the need for an unbiased technology review program within the broadband community. BGR is a twice-monthly emailed newsletter and website sent to over 8,000 cable broadband engineering managers in the Tier 1, Tier 2 and independent operators in the North America and Europe. Since its launch in 2004, BGR has grown by over 5,000 subscribers, and enjoys a roster of over 40 sponsors. BGR is a Hermes Media & Research publication. Tim Hermes, CEO & Publisher, and Laura Hamilton, Vice President & Editor-in-Chief, have a combined 30 years experience in broadband business-to-business publishing.

Note to Ciena 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 September 3, 2009. 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.