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

To: craig crawford who wrote (1759)	3/17/1998 11:42:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 12623

3/17/98 Wash. Post C02 1998 WL 2473615 The Washington Post Copyright 1998, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved Tuesday, March 17, 1998 Financial Ciena Stock Gains on News of Sprint Contract Alex Dominguez Associated Press Ciena Corp. said yesterday it has signed a three-year contract to provide Sprint Corp. with fiber-optic equipment. The announcement made Ciena's stock one of the most heavily traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, pushing it up $3 a share to close at $47.87 1/2. Linthicum, Md.-based Ciena said it expected the deal to be worth about $100 million in the first year. The equipment will allow Sprint, the nation's third-largest long-distance telephone company, to more than double the capacity of its existing network. The 40-channel multiplexing system allows telephone companies and other data carriers using fiber-optic cables to meet the exploding demand of the Internet, faxes and other data transmission users without laying new lines. Sprint said the equipment will allow it to immediately increase its capacity 250 percent, and eventually increase capacity 600 percent. The device works by breaking the spectrum of light transmitted over the fiber-optic cable into segments, much like the colors of a rainbow, and using each segment to carry one channel. By using the latest version, carriers can transmit 40 channels over one pair of fiber-optic cables, with expansion to 96 channels expected this summer, said Denny Bilter, a Ciena spokesman. "We think the product is going to be appealing to all the large carriers. This just so happens to be the first contract we've announced," Bilter said. A rival, Lucent Technologies Corp., a spinoff of AT&T Corp., announced in January that it would deliver an 80-channel system in the fourth quarter of this year. Financial analyst Eric Melloul, who follows Ciena for Argus Research Corp. in New York, said Ciena's 40-channel product has put it in front of the field. "Ciena is really the leader right now. They might be a year ahead of the competition," Melloul said. The decision by Sprint to upgrade its system using the Ciena product shows "this is a race and all the important players want to remain cost-efficient," Melloul said. Sprint spokesman Charles Fleckenstein said the decision to upgrade with Ciena equipment was prompted by increases in the use of its network. Sprint had a 20 percent growth in minutes of use in 1996, and 14 percent in 1997, Fleckenstein said. Bilter said the introduction of the 96-channel multiplexer later this year means the capacity problems facing long-distance carriers have been solved. "The bulge will now appear in the short-haul market," he said. "You're going to see it shifting to the local exchange and that's where we're shifting our efforts. ---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- KEY WORDS: BUSINESS EDITION: FINAL Word Count: 412 3/17/98 WASHPOST C02 END OF DOCUMENT

To: craig crawford who wrote (1759)	3/17/1998 11:44:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12623

3/17/98 Wall St. J. Eur. 6 1998 WL-WSJE 3512667 The Wall Street Journal Europe Copyright (c) 1998, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Tuesday, March 17, 1998 Corporate News Sprint Chooses Ciena For Transmission Gear --- Equipment Will Expand Data-Carrying Capacity As Demand Surges By John J. Keller Staff Reporter Sprint Corp. chose Ciena Corp. to supply high-capacity fiber-optic gear that should dramatically expand the data-carrying capacity of Sprint's national network. Like many carriers, Sprint is racing to upgrade its network to meet increasing demands for data transmission from new services such as Internet access and video conferencing. On the equipment side, Ciena is waging a pitched battle against larger rivals such as Lucent Technologies Inc. to maintain its leadership in a transmission technology called wavelength-division multiplexing. Sprint's data-transmission needs are growing exponentially. A spokeswoman noted that the company's revenue from data transmission by businesses grew 60% in the fourth quarter. Within two years, the company estimates, its revenue from providing long- distance data services to businesses will be equal to what it now garners from providing voice and data services. "Capacity is of critical importance," a Sprint spokeswoman said. Under the three-year supply contract, Ciena will supply Sprint with its new MultiWave 4000 system. In its first year the Lithicum, Maryland-based equipment supplier expects to receive more than $100 million in orders from Sprint, said Patrick Nettles, Ciena's president. The agreement should put on notice network upstarts such as Qwest Communications International Inc. and others that established carriers such as Sprint aren't taking the data challenge lying down. The new breed of carriers brag that their systems will be low-cost transmitters offering more efficiency than networks such as Sprint's. But Ciena's system should allow Sprint to expand the number of transmission channels on each of the optical fibers in its network to 40 from 16. This would boost Sprint's data-carrying capacity on each fiber to 100 billion bits per second from 40 billion bps. If needed, Sprint can boost the system's capacity to 96 channels just by changing the electronic cards on the systems, Mr. Nettles said. "That's plenty for years to come," he said. The contract with Sprint also highlights the rivalry among competitive equipment suppliers. Lucent recently announced that it would ship an 80-channel wavelength-division multiplexing system by the end of the year. "We're out first," Mr. Nettles said. "And our system offers an immediate 96 channels of capacity if the carrier needs it." By the looks of things, the explosion in data should offer enough business for most service and equipment suppliers. Calls for faster transmission from computer users, especially for services such as Internet access and increasingly popular video services has sparked an explosion in data needs. Data transmission is growing by more than 35% on a compound annual basis compared with 10% or less for voice services such as phone calls. And this growth is expected to accelerate. WorldCom Inc., which has a huge data business, has said it is currently experiencing a tenfold increase in annual data growth, far outpacing voice-services growth. Sprint, which is based in Westwood, Kansas, plans to begin deploying the systems in April. ---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- COMPANY (TICKER): CIENA Corp.; Sprint Corp. (CIEN FON) NEWS SUBJECT: Non-Government Contracts; World Equity Index (CTC WEI) MARKET SECTOR: Technology; Utilities (TEC UTI) INDUSTRY: Communications Technology; Long Distance Telephone Providers; Telecommunications, All; Telephone Systems (CMT LDS TEL TLS) PRODUCT: Telecommunications (DTE) REGION: Kansas; Maryland; North America; United States; Central U.S.; Eastern U.S. (KS MD NME US USC USE) LAYOUT CODES: Corporate News; Large Majors; Business and Finance Column Stories (CNS LMJ TPT) Word Count: 473 3/17/98 WSJ-EURO 6 END OF DOCUMENT