Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that THUS plc has chosen the CN 4200™ FlexSelect™ Advanced Services Platform to support the delivery of a new high-capacity, next-generation network to the London Metropolitan Network (LMN). Ciena’s CN 4200 will be deployed as part of THUS’ turnkey solution to provide the LMN with a highly-resilient, scalable optical network, connecting 137 higher and further education sites across Greater London, and offering 20 gigabits per second (Gbps) capacity to meet the growing demand from educational institutions for higher bandwidth.
As the capital’s metropolitan research and education network, the LMN provides more than one million students with access to advanced services and online learning applications, and also connects member institutions to JANET, the UK’s research and academic network.
Ciena’s CN 4200 platform will be used to interconnect LMN’s three major points of presence (PoPs), namely the University of London Computer Centre (ULCC), Imperial College and Kings College Waterloo Campus, providing two optical transmission wavelengths between each site. Each wavelength will deliver 10 Gbps of capacity to support the unique requirements of the academic community, including bandwidth-intensive applications like video and remote data storage.
Phil Male, chief operating officer at THUS plc, said: “We selected Ciena’s CN 4200 platform because it provides us with a resilient and flexible DWDM transport solution, allowing us to provision 10 Gbps bandwidth on-demand and support any service type to meet the varying research needs of the LMN and its members. The platform allows us to provide a flexible network architecture for LMN that is easily scalable to support current and future network requirements.”
A fourth network link will be deployed to provide Gigabit Ethernet point-to-point connectivity between the ULCC and Queen Mary, University of London. THUS’ networks will also interconnect to SuperJANET5, which links users across the UK’s education community, and is also supported by Ciena’s optical solutions.
“LMN joins the growing number of organizations within the research and education community that are taking advantage of next-generation technology. THUS is using Ciena’s unique solutions to deliver network flexibility, manageability and reliability to support the research and learning requirements of the education sector,” said Francois Locoh-Donou, Ciena’s vice president and general manager, EMEA.
THUS has already built bespoke networks based on the CN 4200 platform for other enterprise customers. Additionally, THUS has deployed Ciena’s next-generation platforms within its own UK- wide next-generation network, enhancing performance and reliability as well as increasing capacity.
The flagship platform of Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture – a standards-based, service-oriented approach to building next-generation network infrastructures – the CN 4200 is also a key element of the FlexSelect for Ethernet solution, which offers a proven approach to network transition that makes Ethernet an economical and viable performance-grade convergence infrastructure. The industry’s first platform to offer a universal line card with individual user-programmable ports, providing transport for any protocol at any speed on any available port, Ciena’s CN 4200 is a multiservice transport and service aggregation platform capable of supporting the migration to packet networks using future-ready technology such as ITU G.709 Optical Transport Network (OTN) for service transparency, dynamic wavelength routing featuring a hybrid ROADM solution, and remote service provisioning and management capabilities.
Today, some of the most advanced research networks in the world are built on Ciena’s platforms, including JANET, RENATER, and Internet2, delivering high-bandwidth connectivity – from GbE to 10 GbE – to aid successful research and collaboration.
For additional information on Ciena’s involvement with the research and education community, please visit http://www.ciena.com/government.
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. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.
About THUS
THUS plc provides communications solutions to business customers throughout the UK under the THUS and Demon brands. THUS draws upon a knowledge base established over more than a decade in the delivery of data, telecommunication and Internet services. THUS delivers standard and bespoke solutions to address customers’ existing business needs and works hand in hand with customers to develop new business services. The Company’s record in the creation of innovative new services is complemented by an award winning focus on service quality and full certification under the ISO9001:2000 standard.
About LMN
The London Metropolitan Network is a London-wide high-capacity advanced broadband metropolitan network delivering services to the public sector and interconnecting over 100 leading Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges. The company also connects member institutions to JANET (the UK’s academic network). It has a projected turnover in 2007-08 of £2.5m.
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-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 2007. 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.
