Ciena®
Corporation (NYSE:CIEN), the network specialist, and Ericsson
(NASDAQ:ERIC), a world-leading provider of telecommunications equipment
and services to mobile and fixed network operators, today announced a
strategic global agreement that includes packet-optical distribution,
converged IP/optical joint development and distribution as well as an
SDN collaboration framework.
Ericsson brings to Ciena a wide range of strategic relationships with
global service providers, a strong position in wireless infrastructure
and evolved packet-core solutions, and a worldwide professional services
organization. Ericsson benefits from Ciena’s best-in-class innovation
and packet-optical expertise resulting from years of deep customer
relationships across a wide range of network domains.
Ericsson will offer Ciena's Converged Packet Optical portfolio,
including the 6500
Packet-Optical Platform and 5400
family, to deliver a broader set of infrastructure solutions as
customers migrate to new converged network architectures. In addition,
Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent optical technology will be integrated into
Ericsson’s IP portfolio, creating a solution that allows customers to
seamlessly interoperate routers with Ciena’s industry-leading photonics.
Ciena and Ericsson are committed to accelerating the availability of
open, programmable, software-defined networks. Under a collaboration
framework, the companies will seek to leverage their combined resources
and expertise with plans to jointly develop and co-market service
provider SDN technology.
“The strategic agreement combines Ciena’s and Ericsson’s strengths in
the development of an open SDN network for converged IP and Optical
transport,” said Jan Häglund, Vice President and Head of Product Area IP
& Broadband, Ericsson. “The re-seller agreement will allow Ericsson to
complement our 4th Generation IP portfolio with Ciena’s
industry-leading packet-optical products. This will create an even
stronger offering to our customers.”
“Consistent with our OPn network architecture for intelligent
network evolution, the industry is moving toward an ecosystem of more
specialized players as the transformation accelerates toward open,
programmable, multi-vendor networks that scale and adapt to
network-level applications and services,” said Gary Smith, President and
CEO, Ciena. “Together, Ciena and Ericsson will bring best-in-class
solutions to customers around the globe to better address the evolving
requirements for software-driven, converged networks.”
Live Conference Call / Web Broadcast
Ciena will host a conference call today, Friday, February 14, 2014 at
8:30 a.m. (Eastern), with investors and financial analysts to discuss
the strategic global agreement with Ericsson. The live broadcast will be
available via Ciena's homepage at http://www.ciena.com/.
An archived version will be available shortly following the conclusion
of the live broadcast on the Investor Relations page of Ciena’s website
at: http://investor.ciena.com.
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) 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
its OPn architecture for 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. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter
@Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena.
Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website
at www.ciena.com/investors,
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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 20, 2013. 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.
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