Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that it is among the first technology vendors to complete the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE2.0) certification program and receive certification for its award-winning packet networking platforms. Combined with the company’s built-for-speed packet networking toolsets and attributes, Ciena’s CE2.0-certified platforms can be deployed in a multi-vendor network environment and help expand their service footprint and provide innovative service offerings, mobile backhaul, business services and cloud applications The achievement of MEF CE2.0 certification validates that Ciena’s packet networking platforms provide customers the ability to build open, programmable next-generation networks that can scale and adapt to deliver new services.

Key Facts:

• According to Vertical Systems Group, for the first time this year the share of bandwidth from Carrier Ethernet services exceeded the sum total of all legacy telecoms services across the world, making it the dominant technology in the carrier space. Last year, more than 1.2 billion new Ethernet ports were shipped (400 million wired and 800 million wireless) according to IDC; and Frost & Sullivan, Vertical Systems and Infonetics predict a near $48+ billion services market by 2015.
• CE2.0 is the MEF’s designation for its second generation of service standards. Already a long-time MEF-certified vendor, Ciena now adds CE2.0 compliance, which brings significant value- added benefits and matches the enterprise users’ application performance needs to MEF services with specific SLAs. This will accelerate global deployment and optimization of bandwidth use and costs.
• To be among the first recipients of CE2.0 certifications, Ciena passed a comprehensive set of test cases that ensure interoperability in a multi-vendor network environment. CE2.0 certified platforms are well suited to enterprise applications such as datacenter interconnect, datacenter access, transparent LAN, and Internet access. Ciena has been awarded CE2.0 certification for six services each on its 3916 and 3930 Service Delivery Switches, and its 5150 Service Aggregation Switch.
• With this certification, Ciena’s customers can dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with testing Ciena’s packet networking platforms, and substantially reduce the time to negotiate service capabilities. CE2.0 certification of Ciena platforms includes:
  • Support for six standardized and certified CE2.0 services on each tested platform, which are supported via Ciena’s Service Aware Operating System (SAOS)—a common OS available across Ciena’s packet networking solutions.
  • Consistent use of the MEF-standardized User Network Interface (UNI) and External Network to Network Interface (E-NNI) to allow ease of multi-vendor handoff and avoid vendor lock-in.
  • The new E-Access service type, which allows mid and large-sized operators to expand their footprint for increased global reach. For local operators, this represents an additional revenue opportunity to sell wholesale services within their footprint.
  • Consistent handling of OAM frames, ensuring that service performance can be monitored and debugged on an end-to-end basis even when multiple operator segments are traversed. Debugging and localizing failures can be accomplished more efficiently without finger pointing between operators.
  • Standardized multi-QoS handling to ensure that levels of service are handled consistently between operators and class of service markings are respected at operator handoffs.

Executive Comments:

• “The achievement of the CE2.0 equipment vendors is a testament to their commitment to outstanding delivery to the Carrier market. MEF CE2.0 standards will enable carriers to choose equipment vendors with greater speed, clarity and certainty.”
  -  Ihab Tarazi, chairman of the board, MEF, vice president of global planning and technology, Verizon

• “CE2.0 is important to the future of Carrier Ethernet because it further standardizes how service providers work together, which will assure better interoperability, more effective partnerships and better overall service for customers,” said Karen Schmidt, executive director, enterprise product marketing at Comcast Business Services. "Comcast is pleased to see Ciena taking a leadership role in the CE2.0 certification process. This foundational work is moving the industry forward and is critical to helping service providers bring CE2.0 services to the marketplace.”
  -  Karen Schmidt, executive director, enterprise product marketing, Comcast Business Services

• “For network operators, the Carrier Ethernet services market is increasingly competitive, and the ability to quickly and easily deploy next-generation technology and turn up new services is critical. By offering ‘built for speed’ packet networking platforms that are CE2.0 certified, we are giving our service provider customers a standards-based solution that allows them to differentiate and improve the customer experience faster than the competition, as well as the assurance that our technology is pre-tested to perform in their diverse network environments.”
  -  Rick Dodd, senior vice president of global marketing, Ciena

Technology Background:

• Rick Dodd, Ciena’s senior vice president of Global Marketing spoke on the “Technology and Market Trends for CE2.0” panel at the MEF America’s Summit. Ciena is represented on the Board of Directors, as co-chair of Technical Committee, Editor of multiple MEF specifications and via contributions in Marketing and Certification committees.
• With more than 300,000 deployed devices, Ciena’s packet networking platforms equip providers with greater agility in the entire service life-cycle to address key challenges such as improving service turn-up and change intervals, accelerating problem resolution times and reducing overall customer churn. Ciena’s mobile backhaul platforms have been deployed in more than 50 percent of North America’s Ethernet-enabled cell towers.
• Used by more than 150 carriers, wireless service providers and cable operators worldwide, Ciena’s purpose-built packet networking platforms offer the industry’s richest set of OAM capabilities. They support a wide range of key industry packet transport protocols, such as G.8032 and MPLS-TP thanks to the virtual switching capability native to Ciena’s packet portfolio.
• Ciena’s packet networking platforms are complemented by the company’s Network Transformation Solutions (NTS) and BizConnect partner program that offer a truly consultative approach to Ciena partners along with joint marketing and sales support.

Supporting Resources:

• Chalk Talk: CE2.0 Chalk Talk
• Blog Post: What the MEF’s CE2.0 initiative means for the industry
• White Paper: Built for Speed
• White Paper: OPn Network Architecture
• Product Overview: Packet Networking Portfolio
• Product Overview: OneControl Unified Management System
• Webinar Series: Packet Networking Webinar Series
• Chalk Talk: G.8032 – Ethernet Rings chalk talk
• Chalk Talk: MPLS-TP chalk talk
• Video: Comcast Metro Ethernet Services, Powered by Ciena

About Ciena

Ciena is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with OPn, its approach for building open next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

Note to Ciena Investors

Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2012. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.