LINTHICUM, Md., ALAMEDA, Calif., and LUBBOCK, Texas -- CIENAR Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN), a leading global provider of intelligent service creation and delivery solutions, and MetaSwitch, a leading vendor of Class 5 softswitch solutions, today announced that they have partnered to provide Texas service provider AMA.TechTel Communications with a complete solution for delivering next-generation Voice over IP (VoIP) services.

AMA.TechTel, the largest locally-owned telecommunications company in West Texas, turned to MetaSwitch and CIENA because its existing access and switching infrastructure could not meet its requirements for supporting packet voice and IP Centrex services, which are central to the company's growth plans. The combined CIENA-MetaSwitch solution effectively addresses this challenge for AMA.TechTel, improving network performance and economics, and establishing competitive advantage for its service portfolio.

"As a competitive local exchange carrier, we are always looking to provide our customers the best experience possible and introduce new services that drive our revenue growth," said David Boyd, chief technical officer of AMA.TechTel. "The combination of MetaSwitch's Class 5 softswitch and CIENA' s broadband loop carrier gives us the reliability and flexibility we need to react quickly to developments in technology and regulation.

"We are extremely impressed by how quickly and easily the integrated solution was deployed, and both systems have since been successfully operating in our network for several months," continued Boyd. "AMA.TechTel has spent many years working with next-generation equipment vendors to stay ahead of the curve, and MetaSwitch and CIENA are unquestionably true technology leaders in this space."

Ciena Corp.

MetaSwitch