Phonoscope Selects Ciena Packet-Optical and Carrier Ethernet Solutions for Next Generation Metro Network

LINTHICUM, Md. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ciena^® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Houston-based Phonoscope has selected Ciena’s industry-leading Packet-Optical Transport and Carrier Ethernet technology to provide high-capacity, next generation optical transport and business Ethernet services, as well as 4G LTE mobile backhaul services, to enterprise and service provider customers in the Houston metro area. Phonoscope will become the first metro communications operator in Houston equipped to deliver voice, video, data and related services at speeds that scale from 10G to 40G to 100G.

Key Facts

• Phonoscope provides a wide variety of networking solutions, including Ethernet and optical transport services to business, government, education and residential service provider customers across seven counties. In business since 1953, the company has a strong heritage as a technology leader, and holds the first and largest privately-owned optical Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) in the U.S.
• As part of a network expansion, Phonoscope will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, to build a new, high-capacity optical network that connects 25 fault tolerant, multi-gigabit Ethernet rings. The enhanced network will enable Phonoscope to provide optical transport services with the ability to scale to 40G/100G with the addition of Ciena WaveLogic^™ coherent optical line cards to meet customer needs in the future.
• Phonoscope will also deploy Ciena’s 5410 and 5150 Service Aggregation Switches, and 3930 and 3931 Service Delivery Switches, all part of Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Solutions (CES) portfolio, to provide a reliable, high-capacity, transport-class packet network.
• One of the first customers of these new services—a large, nationwide wireless service provider—will leverage Phonoscope’s Ciena-based infrastructure to carry aggregated 4G LTE mobile backhaul traffic at 10 Gb/s from its cell sites. Ciena’s leading-edge network and service management solution will be deployed for automated service creation, activation and monitoring which will allow Phonoscope to quickly turn up these services to meet customer demands and SLA requirements.
• Ciena is also providing Phonoscope a wide range of professional services for this deployment via its Ciena Specialist Services portfolio, including ongoing testing and support.

Executive Comments

• “As a leading communications provider in the Houston metro area for almost 60 years, our success relies upon two key components: a dedication to a tailor-made and comprehensive customer service experience and a commitment to innovation that keeps us on the leading edge and fuels the growth of our services and underlying network infrastructure. With Ciena’s market-leading Packet-Optical solutions, as well as Carrier Ethernet technology, we will be equipped to offer data services at bandwidth speeds that scale from 10G to 100G, and have the ability to offer new services, such as mobile backhaul, to expand our addressable market while offering our customers the added benefit of only having to work with one vendor.”
  – Rhonda Cumming, President at Phonoscope
• “Houston is one of the largest cities in the U.S., a leader in the energy economy and home to the second largest number of Fortune 500 companies, representing an ideal location for a network that can bring businesses and mobile operators reliable, high-capacity bandwidth combined with network reach throughout the metro area. The combination of our Packet-Optical and Carrier Ethernet platforms provides Phonoscope with a flexible network that can scale to meet customer connectivity requirements today and in the future.”
  – Chad Whalen, vice president and general manager, North American field organization at Ciena.

Technology Leadership

• Boasting years of coherent deployment experience, Ciena’s 40G/100G solutions equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors scale the capacity and reach of existing networks with operational simplicity. Ciena’s 6500 also features electronic dispersion compensation and comprehensive ROADM functionality, which combine with intelligent automation and OTN/packet switching to maximize both the bandwidth efficiency and flexibility of the overall network.
• Ciena's CES portfolio combines intelligent devices and software to create low-touch, high-velocity Carrier Ethernet access and metro networks creating a common, consistent way to deliver the full range of Ethernet services that significantly accelerates and automates service creation and activation. Ciena’s CES portfolio is used by more than 150 carriers, wireless service providers and cable operators worldwide, with an installed base of nearly 250,000 Ethernet-enabled sites.
• Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet solutions for LTE wireless backhaul provide up to 30 percent savings in capital expenses and up to 80 percent reduction in turn-up times for mobile network operators at base stations, compared to alternative packet technologies, according to an independent study commissioned by Ciena.

Supporting Resources

• Application Note: Coherent Optical Processing for High-Capacity Networks
• White Paper: Key Technology Enablers of 100 Gb/s in Carrier Networks
• Application note: Delivering True Carrier Ethernet Business Services
• White Paper: Wireless Backhaul Network Solutions
• White Paper: Navigating the Wireless Backhaul Bottleneck
• Video: Ciena's Portfolio for Wireless Backhaul

About Phonoscope

With almost 60 years of technology leadership in Houston, Phonoscope holds the nation’s largest privately-owned fiber optic Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Phonoscope supplies customers on its network with a variety of commercial grade services. Phonoscope employs a fault-tolerant, multi-gigabit Ethernet fiber optic ring to transport data throughout the seven counties that make up the Greater Houston area with performance statistics that exceed traditional ATM transport systems. Utilizing its high capacity, high availability network, Phonoscope continues to offer innovative data solutions to its diverse customer base.

About Ciena

Ciena is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they compete. With focused innovation, Ciena brings together the reliability and capacity of optical networking with the flexibility and economics of Ethernet, unified by a software suite that delivers the industry’s leading network automation. 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.

Note to Ciena Investors

Forward-looking statements. 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 22, 2011. 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.