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

To: djane who wrote (1722)	3/12/1998 8:43:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12623

GST contract win. Immediate deployment: LINTHICUM, MD. (March 12) BUSINESS WIRE -March 12, 1998--CIENA Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN) today announced that GST Telecommunications, Inc. (AMEX: GST) has chosen CIENA's MultiWave(R) 1600 dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system for immediate deployment in its network. GST Telecommunications will install the MultiWave 1600 with CIENA's optical add/drop multiplexers in a long haul application in a portion of its network in California. "GST selected CIENA because of its high quality products and unmatched experience in real-world, real-network DWDM applications" said Joseph A. Basile, Jr., president and chief operating officer of GST Telecommunications. "Deploying CIENA's DWDM equipment gives GST the flexibility to add network bandwidth when and where our customer demand requires - a critical ability for a growing CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) like GST." GST, a facilities-based CLEC, currently offers a full range of integrated telecommunications services throughout the western United States and Hawaii. Due to increased customer demand on the Company's 500-mile California long-haul network, currently under construction, GST is adding CIENA's DWDM system to increase its bandwidth capacity. When complete, the network will run from San Francisco to Los Angeles. "We selected CIENA because it met or exceeded all of our technical requirements," said Kevin Wright, chief technology officer of GST. "The initial installation will allow us to use eight wavelengths of OC-48. When demand warrants it, we will have the ability to easily upgrade to 16 wavelengths. CIENA's equipment also is compatible with various brands of fiber optic terminal equipment. Flexibility is important to us and is one of the chief criteria we use when evaluating any system," Wright added. "The addition of GST to our growing customer base marks CIENA's entrance into the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier market," said Patrick Nettles, CIENA's president and chief executive officer. "It's also evidence of the spreading acceptance of DWDM as an efficient and economical way to increase network capacity, and demonstrates the fact that demand for bandwidth continues to spread across the public networks, with new customer opportunities popping up for CIENA in markets we might not have anticipated just a year ago." GST's deployment of CIENA's MultiWave 1600 system is expected to be completed by April 1998. NOTE TO INVESTORS Forward-looking statements in this release, including statements regarding the expected timing of installation of CIENA's equipment in GST Telecom's network during this quarter is based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's dependence on its major customers and their spending patterns, the challenge of transitioning to the manufacture of multiple product lines in fiscal 1998, and the overall management of its expansion. The forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of these and other risk factors disclosed in the Company's Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 19, 1998. ABOUT CIENA Based in Linthicum, Maryland, CIENA Corporation is a worldwide market leader of open architecture, dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems for long-distance and local exchange carriers. CIENA's DWDM solutions include the MultiWave(R) 1600 long-haul transport system, WaveWatcher(R) network management software, the MultiWave Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer, the MultiWave Sentry enhanced long-distance transport system and the new MultiWave Firefly and MultiWave Metro short-haul systems. Through its Alta subsidiary, based in Norcross, GA, CIENA provides a range of engineering, furnishing and installation (EF&I) services for telecommunications service providers in the areas of transport, switching and wireless communications. CIENA's DWDM equipment expands the carrying capacity of fiber optic networks by dividing the optical signal into several separate optical channels or wavelengths. An optical fiber without DWDM technology carries a single color of laser light, or a single wavelength, on which travels approximately 32,000 voice or data transmissions. CIENA's DWDM technology divides the single wavelength into multiple colors, or channels, thereby multiplying the capacity of the fiber by the number of channels and enabling service providers to expand bandwidth without the expensive process of adding more fibers. Additional information about CIENA can be found on its World Wide Website: ciena.com. ABOUT GST TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. GST Telecommunications, Inc., headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., currently operates Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) operations and long haul fiber networks throughout the western United States and Hawaii. Facilities-based GST provides a broad range of integrated telecommunications products including local dial tone, long distance, data and Internet services. GST continues to focus on its western regional strategy by anchoring its CLEC networks in local markets and connecting them via long haul fiber networks. Visit GST's web site at www.gstcorp.com. -0- bh/ny* sdg CONTACT: CIENA Corporation Investor Contact Denny Bilter CIENA Corporation 800/921-1144 Suzanne DuLong or 888/243-6223