Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Kärntner Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft (KELAG), a regional electricity supplier in Austria, has deployed the CN 4200® FlexSelect® Advanced Services Platform to deliver high-performance, low-latency storage and Local Area Network (LAN) connectivity between its data centers. Kapsch BusinessCom, a leading Austrian system integrator and a Solutions Provider Partner in Ciena’s BizConnect global partner program, was responsible for implementing the turnkey solution.

KELAG is the main electricity supplier in the Carinthia region in Austria, and also operates its own private communications infrastructure to meet its internal networking requirements. The CN 4200 enables KELAG to create a service-driven network with the high-performance point-to-point data center connectivity it requires to transport any mix of traffic, including Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), Fibre Channel and TDM, over dedicated bandwidth via native protocols.

As Ciena’s CN 4200 supports the ITU G.709 standard, also known as Optical Transport Network (OTN), KELAG can deploy virtually any storage and data center protocol transparently while also supporting legacy TDM interfaces across its converged network. Furthermore, with the CN 4200’s unique built-in sub-wavelength grooming and Ethernet switching functionality, KELAG can efficiently aggregate multiple data center services such as GbE and Fibre Channel across the same 2.5G or 10G link, enabling optimum wavelength utilization while maintaining low latency, full service transparency and application security.

“As a mission-critical provider, our customers expect our electricity network to be optimized for high performance and high reliability,” said Walter Velik, head of the technical department at KELAG. “The same rules apply to our telecom network with the added requirement that it must be flexible enough to meet the evolving demands of our customers. In addition to being a highly reliable carrier-class platform, Ciena’s CN 4200 allows us the flexibility to support multiple applications on-demand while optimizing bandwidth usage, making our services more attractive to our customers.”

“We’ve seen a consistent trend across Europe where it is no longer good enough to simply have the superior technical solution,” said Francois Locoh-Donou, vice president and general manager, EMEA, Ciena. “Rather, it is the ability to offer high-value end-user services with the flexibility to rapidly change with customer demand that continues to drive the success of our CN 4200 family. The programmable nature of the platform offers unprecedented efficiency and flexibility that creates market advantage for our customers, and allows operators like KELAG to build an agile service infrastructure that can reliably support and manage evolving bandwidth-hungry applications.”

More than 150 organizations around the world, including leading service providers, enterprises, government agencies and research and education networks, utilize Ciena’s CN 4200 platform for its flexibility, ease of deployment and significant capital and operational savings.

About KELAG

KELAG-Kärntner Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft produces and supplies electricity. It also offers gas and heating in Carinthia, Austria. KELAG-Kärntner Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft operates power stations, transformer stations, and distributing substations in Austria. The company, formerly known as KÄWAG, was founded in 1923 and is based in Klagenfurt, Austria. KELAG-Kärntner Elektrizitäts-Aktiengesellschaft is a subsidiary of Karntner Energieholding Beteiligungs Gmbh. www.kelag.at

About Kapsch BusinessCom

Kapsch BusinessCom is a subsidiary of the Kapsch Group. As the leading systems-integrator in Austria, Kapsch BusinessCom provides a wide range of communications services and solutions for the enterprise market, including Wireless- and Mobile Business-Solutions, Voice over IP, Network Security, Network Management, and IT. http://www.kapsch.net

About Ciena

Ciena specializes in the transition to service-driven networks. We provide flexible platforms, intelligent software and professional services to help our customers use their networks to fundamentally change the way they compete. With a growing 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 at www.ciena.com.

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-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 2008. 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.