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Technology Stocks : Ciena (CIEN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (10532)	3/1/2001 11:57:23 AM
From: James Fulop	Respond to of 12623

>>Since the article compares Nortel and Ciena, it is worth pointing out that Nortel is a major player in optical ethernet and Ciena does not have a product in that space.<< That is not my understanding.... >>CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) today announced at the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference that it has added Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology to the LightWorks Toolkit™ for Optical Services, CIENA's suite of software-, silicon- and optics-based technologies designed to enable new optical service offerings. CIENA's Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology uses software and ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) to enable service providers to sell "any-size" Gigabit Ethernet services in increments of 50Mbps (STS-1), up to 1.25Gbps. The service rate is adaptive to end-users' needs, allowing service providers to tailor pricing to a finer granularity of data rates. Additionally, the technology enables providers to transport fractional Gigabit Ethernet traffic from up to 10 different customers over a single OC-48/STM-16 (2.5Gbps) wavelength. As a result, service providers can create a wide range of customized optical service options for end-users and deliver those services over more efficient access and core networks that leverage the economies of Gigabit Ethernet transmission. "CIENA has recognized that Gigabit Ethernet quickly is becoming part of the telecom traffic mix, where SONET- and SDH-framed data used to dominate," said Alex Benik, analyst at The Yankee Group. "Traditionally, Gigabit Ethernet pipes are bursty in nature and do not maximize available bandwidth. Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology allows service providers to pack a wavelength tightly with multiple customers, while presenting end-users with more granular service choices." "This translates to a better focus on the customer, more revenues per wavelength, and allows service providers to avoid wasting channels on low-speed services," Benik continued. "CIENA clearly understands the evolving network architectures and, more importantly, the economic dynamics shaping the intelligent optical network." The concept of Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet is similar to fractional T-carrier services, where an end-user might require more than 100Mbps of service, but less than 1Gbps. However, the intelligence embedded in CIENA systems is designed to allow this bandwidth to be dynamically allocated with the click of a mouse from a remote network management center. This enables service providers to respond to changing customer needs in a fast, efficient and tailored manner. Initially available on CIENA's MultiWave Metro™ systems, CIENA plans to integrate Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet capabilities directly into its MultiWave CoreStream™ system for intelligent long-haul optical transport, and MultiWave CoreDirector™ intelligent optical core switching systems. With this technology, incoming network traffic on Gigabit Ethernet signals is transported through metropolitan area networks and can be directly connected to CoreStream for efficient transport across long-haul networks, providing end-to-end, optically protected connections for Gigabit Ethernet customers. When Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet signals are passed from MultiWave Metro to CIENA's CoreDirector switch, this synergistic combination of systems allows independent allocation of constituent Gigabit Ethernet services in 50Mbps increments. "Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet supports CIENA's vision of an Intelligent Optical Internet, in which a range of service levels and priorities are dynamically allocated across the access network and the optical core," said Patrick Nettles, CIENA's president and CEO. "With this technology, CIENA is taking Gigabit Ethernet services to a level that should allow more customized service choices for the customer and optimal network efficiency for the provider." Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology is expected to be available for customer trials early in calendar 2001. CIENA's LightWorks Toolkit also will include intelligent networking capabilities such as Wavelength Binding, Flexible Concatenation, Transparent Service Multiplexing, Optical Priority Provisioning and Very Short Reach Optics. These technologies are designed to equip service providers with network flexibility required to create and deliver differentiating, next-generation optical services.<< ciena.com "CIENA's modular growth path should provide CoreDirector customers with an immediate competitive advantage over service providers expecting to deploy wavelength-only optical switches in the next 12 to 18 months. CoreDirector's advanced OEO foundation enables service providers to begin offering new, differentiated services like optical VPNs (virtual private networks), wave services, OC-n/STM-n services, and fractional gigabit Ethernet services, while offering a clear evolutionary path to improve efficiencies, flexibility and scalability as network needs evolve." ciena.com And there are more, but you get the idea...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (10532)	3/1/2001 2:44:14 PM
From: jghutchison	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12623

Kenneth, I believe the CoreDirector has Ethernet capability, along with IP, ATM, Frame Relay, etc. I also believe the K2 offers Ethernet capability. Ciena now owns the K2. FWIW, this is the first time I've seen market share figures broken out to this level. About a year ago I wrote to Lightreading complaining of the "gloming" of the figures as it distorted the market share figures and incorrectly attributed market share figures to the wrong parties (read Nortel). Lightreading promised to address this issue. It is about time the truth came out. Ciena is the clear and undisputed market leader in cutting-edge technology. Now you know why Ciena is increasing its guidance and Nortel is doing just the opposite. Same for staff additions. The story will only get better. Jack Hutchison