Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that its CoreDirector® Multiservice Optical Switch received 3.5 diamonds in Broadband Gear Report (BGR)’s 2007 Diamond Technology Reviews. The Reviews recognize leading products, software and services that help cable and broadband providers increase the reliability, efficiency, capacity and delivery of HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coax) networks to improve profitability and overall customer satisfaction. This year the Review judges included representatives from Comcast, Cox, Charter, Rogers and Bright House.
Central to meeting the demands of the MSO, Ciena’s CoreDirector integrates multiple devices into a single highly-automated device that not only reduces space requirements, but also dramatically reduces capital and ongoing operational costs. A key component of Ciena’s FlexSelect™ Architecture and the global market leader in optical switching, CoreDirector is a multiservice, multiprotocol optical switching system that consolidates the functionality of a multiservice provisioning platform, digital cross-connect, add/drop multiplexer and Ethernet switch into a single, compact, high-capacity intelligent switching system that can reduce network operator capex by as much as 65 percent and opex by as much as 85 percent. The expansion of MSO service portfolios to include new offerings such as voice and business Ethernet is driving the need for multiservice, fault tolerant, highly-reliable networks. Ciena’s field-proven and widely-deployed CoreDirector is a key building block to ensure those network characteristics.
“Based on the assessment of senior technical executives from major MSOs, this positive review underscores the unique value CoreDirector brings to the cable industry as an intelligent, ultra-reliable optical switching solution featuring software-based automation,” said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer at Ciena. “With its highly-integrated transport and switching capabilities, field deployments have proven CoreDirector's ability to significantly reduce MSO network capital costs, while also cutting operational costs via process automation and network simplification."
At the heart of CoreDirector is Ciena’s FlexSelect OS, embedded intelligence that makes up a standards-based optical control plane. The software’s ultra-reliable 99.9999 percent (six-nines) availability combines with other revenue-enhancing and cost-optimizing features including real-time service and inventory management, automated mapping of services requests to available network resources, fully-automated activation and deactivation of circuits and equipment, and multi-layered service restoration including line, ring and mesh based restoration. In addition, CoreDirector can deliver up to 640 Gbps of capacity in a single rack optimized for the aggregation and forwarding of multiple services, including TDM, Ethernet, Triple Play and IP. Furthermore, with CoreDirector, Ethernet-based services can be tailored to meet a variety of service requirements, including those that require traffic management, such as voice and business Ethernet services.
“This is the second year in a row that a Ciena product has received an outstanding score,” said Tim Hermes, Publisher of BGR. “Given their technical expertise and focus on reliability, I am sure the CoreDirector will be received extremely well by the broadband community.”
The Diamond Technology Reviews are an annual product rating process where an elite group of broadband industry engineering professionals organized by the BGR editorial team analyze product applications submitted by the broadband industry’s vendor community. 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 2007 in Orlando, Fla. Ciena’s CoreDirector will be displayed via a 3D virtual demonstration at the Expo from June 19-22 in Booth #1531.
Ciena is a leader in optical Ethernet switching and transport for cable networks based on multi-system and operator-wide deployments with MSOs worldwide, including ARMSTRONG Cable, Cablevision, Cogeco Cable, Cox Communications, J:COM and others. Ciena’s platforms are the backbone of broadband cable networks passing more than 22 million homes and businesses, and provide practical solutions for converging and transitioning networks to high-performance Ethernet for broadcast video distribution, VOD, CMTS backhaul of VoIP and high-speed data, storage extension other and commercial services. For more information on Ciena’s cable solutions, please visit www.ciena.com/cable.
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.
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.
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 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.
