Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Neuf Cegetel has deployed the CN 4200™ RS FlexSelect™ Advanced Services Platform to increase capacity across its backbone network in the Ile de France region in response to strong customer demand for high-bandwidth IP services.

With the ability to aggregate and distribute thousands of on-demand programmable services from a single platform, Ciena’s CN 4200 RS offers four times the capacity of the original CN 4200, and is ideally suited to handle Neuf Cegetel’s service aggregation and wavelength routing requirements. The solution supports video distribution, broadband aggregation, managed business services and other applications to enable Neuf Cegetel to better serve customers in the Paris metropolitan area, which continues to experience high IP traffic growth.

Neuf Cegetel serves more than three million residential broadband customers and maintains 21 percent broadband market share in France. The operator doubled its IP services traffic in 2006 and expects similar growth this year. In 2008, the Neuf Cegetel Group aims to achieve revenue growth of more than 20 percent for its Mass Market division, driven primarily by the robust momentum of the Neuf brand in broadband, the success of its new services and the proliferation of its fixed-mobile convergence strategy.

“Neuf Cegetel continues to invest heavily in a robust, scalable infrastructure to gain competitive advantage, and Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture and CN 4200 product family are already a proven, reliable solution within our network,” said Pierre-Alain Allemand, General Director, Networks Division at Neuf Cegetel. “The new CN 4200 RS provides us additional flexibility for increasing network capacity to meet growing customer demand while minimizing capital costs by way of a lower cost per port.”

The CN 4200 RS is part of Ciena’s flagship CN 4200 family of products and a key element of its FlexSelect Architecture for flexible, service-enabled transport. Featuring 16 line card slots and up to 96 on-demand programmable ports per chassis with scalability to more than 5000 ports in a single node, the CN 4200 RS is optimized to deliver high-volume services while lowering the cost per service. In addition to offering more capacity, the CN 4200 RS is capable of supporting Ciena’s Dynamic Wavelength Routing (DWR) line module, which is a key component of the hybrid ROADM solution. By combining built-in electrical, sub-wavelength grooming with the DWR module, the CN 4200 RS is capable of grooming and routing services from 10M to 40G within a single ring as well as across multiple rings on-demand and with optimal efficiency.

“Recognizing that demands on today‘s networks are increasing, we developed the CN 4200 RS to enable customers such as Neuf Cegetel to benefit from a larger, denser chassis that supports the rapid growth of bandwidth-intensive services,” said Eric Sèle, Ciena’s general manager for Southern and Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “By leveraging field-proven hardware and software, Neuf Cegetel can significantly increase capacity at a reduced cost without sacrificing the high reliability and scalability the CN 4200 platform is known for.”

A key element of Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture, the CN 4200 family includes the CN 4200 MC for edge-optimized optical services from the customer premises, the CN 4200 for most locations where services are being aggregated and transported, and the CN 4200 RS for high-volume aggregation, grooming and routing of traffic at major network points of presence. The platform offers the unique benefit of universal line cards with individual user-programmable ports to deliver TDM, Ethernet and storage services at any speed on any available port, and ITU G.709 OTN for service transparency.

More than 100 organisations around the world, including leading service providers, enterprises, government agencies and research and education networks, utilise Ciena’s CN 4200 platform for its flexibility, ease of deployment and significant capital and operational savings.

About the Neuf Cegetel Group

Neuf Cegetel is the leading alternative operator in France. The group operates its own national network infrastructure, comprising nearly 45,000 kilometres of optical fibres, and has invested heavily in the rollout of its DSL access network. This means that Neuf Cegetel is in a position to produce its own broadband services, control their costs and quality and sell them directly to 70% of the target population. Neuf Cegetel has a presence in all segments of the market, providing a wide range of services to residential customers, corporate and telecoms and Internet service providers. Neuf Cegetel, whose two key shareholders are the Louis Dreyfus and SFR groups, reported revenues of 2,897 million euros in 2006. www.groupeneufcegetel.fr.

About Ciena

Ciena specializes in network transition. We provide the flexible platforms, intelligent software and professional services to build converged networks for enhanced services and applications. With a growing global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. 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-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 27, 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.