Reliance Globalcom Selects Ciena for 40G

LINTHICUM, Md. -- Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Reliance Globalcom, a leading global provider of managed network services for multinational enterprises, carriers and services providers, is deploying its market-leading coherent 40G optical networking solution on a cable route that connects the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Egypt. Spanning more than 6,400 kilometers, the upgraded cable route will add 2.4 Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity on a crucial submarine route from Europe to the Middle East that helps transport traffic between the Atlantic crossing and Asia portions of Reliance Globalcom's global submarine network.

Reliance Globalcom owns the world's largest private undersea cable system that spans a total of 65,000 kilometers. When combined with the 190,000 kilometers of domestic fiber of its parent company, Reliance Communications, the global network connects 40 key business markets in India, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States. This upgrade to 40G technology using Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform with 40G ultra long haul interfaces is a part of a strategy to significantly increase the submarine network capacity without disrupting existing customer traffic or adding cost and complexity to the network.

"Even in uncertain economic times, delivering services to a global customer base of hundreds of service providers, thousands of enterprises and millions of consumers requires an agile, high-capacity network," said Rory Cole, president and COO, Carrier & ISP, of Reliance Globalcom. "By adding Ciena's 40G technology at our terminal stations, we increase our capacity by a factor of four with a clear, in-service path to 100G without disrupting existing customers, re-engineering our network or sending ships out to lay more fiber. With this one simple step, we bolster the value and extend the lifespan of our submarine network."

Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN)