Global Caribbean Fiber Selects Ciena for Submarine Cable Network Upgrade Using GeoMesh Optical Bypass

Ciena^® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN, news, filings), the network specialist, today announced that Global Caribbean Fiber (GCF), the main provider of network services across the Eastern Caribbean, has selected Ciena to upgrade its Antilles Crossing submarine network that connects St. Croix, St. Lucia and Barbados. With Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by WaveLogic coherent optical processors and GeoMesh optical bypass, GCF is upgrading its submarine network to 40G coherent technology to satisfy customer demands for high-bandwidth services from surging Internet traffic and applications including video, cloud computing and business continuity/disaster recovery.

Key Facts:

• GCF was created in 2007, jointly owned by Group Loret (60 percent) and Leucadia (40 percent). GCF is also the parent company of the Global Caribbean Network (GCN), Middle Caribbean Network (MCN), Southern Caribbean Fiber (SCF), and Antilles Crossing projects. All of the aforementioned GCF systems are grouped under the GCF network.

• The GCF network is a fiber optic submarine cable system of about 3,000 km providing 1.2 Tb/s capacity across 14 countries in the Eastern Caribbean.

• GCF selected Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors and Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE) for deployment on its 1,100 km Antilles Crossing submarine network that connects the Eastern Caribbean islands of St. Croix, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

• The newly upgraded network scheduled to be operational in May 2013, will allow GCF to increase submarine bandwidth by four times using existing submarine cables, and enable the launch of 10 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) Ethernet services for wholesale services, other operators and local Internet service providers (ISPs). This upgrade will also use Ciena’s agile GeoMesh optical bypass, which will provide GCF with flexibility to add or drop select wavelengths at intermediate sites. In addition to reducing latency on the route, this gives GCF the ability to quickly react to changing traffic demands and increase network availability.

• The network upgrade will be managed by Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System, providing GCF with multi-layer service management to enable streamlined service activation, robust fault management and comprehensive performance monitoring, resulting in efficient use of critical network assets and bandwidth optimization.

• Ciena is also providing GCF with a wide range of professional services for this deployment via Ciena Specialist Services for installation, integration, testing and support.

Executive Comments:

• “As a leading provider of telecommunications infrastructure for the Eastern Caribbean, it is imperative that our customers have access to a scalable, reliable network with low latency that can compete anywhere in the world. Ciena’s coherent optical technology is just what we needed to ensure end-to-end network performance across the islands of St. Croix, St. Lucia and Barbados. By leveraging Ciena’s GeoMesh coherent transport and agile optical bypass technology, we can ensure our customers have the bandwidth needed to innovate and succeed in their respective markets.”
  –       Valéry Bijou, Chief Operations Officer, Global Caribbean Fiber 

• “By leveraging Ciena’s GeoMesh capabilities, GCF can re-use its fiber plant and carry four times the amount of traffic capacity than it had previously, leveraging existing assets and avoiding expensive alternatives. Along with the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, to meet surging bandwidth demands, Ciena’s intelligent software will provide GCF’s customers high-speed protected, reliable and flexible on-demand service delivery.”
  –   Ed McCormack, Vice President and General Manager, Submarine Systems, Ciena 

Supporting resources:

• Data Sheet: 6500 Packet-Optical Platform
• Application Note: Coherent Optical Processing for High-Capacity Networks
• Video: What is Coherent Optical Networking?
• Infograph: Submarine Cable Network

About Global Caribbean Fiber
Global Caribbean Fiber provides the Caribbean Communications companies with wholesale inter-island and worldwide connectivity solutions. It is the most secure cost effective network of the Eastern Caribbean. The GCN network is a submarine cable system of about 3000 km providing 1.2 Tbits/s capacity serving 14 countries. For more information, visit http://www.globalcaribbean.net. 

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.

Jamie Moody
Ciena Corporation
(214) 995-8035
jmoody@ciena.com

Armand Sarshar
Global Caribbean Fiber
(415) 710-0559
asarshar@globalcaribbean.net