TDF Partners with Ciena to Deliver High Speed and Future-Proof Network in France

Ciena’s converged packet optical technology enables TDF to deploy a super-fast network that will provide new services to customers in the healthcare, government and finance sectors

HANOVER, Md. — 01/8/2014

TDF, continental Europe’s biggest owner of broadcast and telecoms masts, and Ciena^® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN, news, filings), the network specialist, today announced TDF has deployed Ciena’s optical solutions to provide 100G capabilities to its customers. This will allow TDF to address the need for increased bandwidth for its customers that are interested in high speed and low latency connectivity. 

Already available to customers, the outstanding performances on TDF’s networks have proven to be a commercial success, particularly in Bordeaux where TDF opened its first data center in May 2013. TDF can also leverage Ciena’s converged packet optical platform to expand its network and provide service to new verticals – including IT, healthcare, telecom and government industries – and further strengthen its position in the media space, by fully addressing its specific demand in capacity, speed and power. 

Ciena’s expertise in network modernization combined with the strong partnership between the two companies will enable TDF, a Ciena BizConnect partner, to continue developing new services in line with users’ needs, such as very high speed and low latency connectivity and data center interconnection.

Key Facts:

• TDF provides radio and television transmission services, and other multimedia services, such as digitization of content, encoding and storage. TDF’s connectivity solutions address the needs of telecom operators, IT service providers and institutions, in addition to healthcare and finance organisations.

• TDF’s high-capacity network, stretching 4,200 kilometres, is connected to data centers in Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Aix-Marseille and Rennes, and will increase its reach in France to 5,000 kilometres by the end of 2014. The performance of the new network was tested and approved on a long-haul transmission network from Bordeaux to Marseille (via Paris), which covered 1,800 kilometres in France, without needing regeneration. With this deployment, TDF is now positioned as a key player in the French digital economy.

• The network will be powered by Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, equipped with third generation WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors and integrated packet switching capabilities. TDF will also leverage Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System, for unified and simplified low-touch service management. OneControl also enables rapid service delivery, comprehensive transparent service visualization, and network monitoring and diagnostics. With this technology and adoption of Ciena’s OPⁿ architecture approach, TDF will benefit from an extremely robust and efficient network that can easily scale to address all the diverse service requirements for its enterprise customers.

• Additionally, TDF will deploy Ciena’s digital video transport solution to offer users the ability to transport high-quality video content over its network.

• TDF is also leveraging Ciena’s GeoAnalytics consulting service that uses enterprise databases and analytics to give service providers strategic business insight to help grow their business efficiently and profitably. TDF will use this for customer identification by geography, vertical market targeting, and lead generation activities.

Executive Comments: 

• “The network is now critical to numerous organisations in different sectors. As part of our experience in the media sector and in order to address new markets, we implemented an expansion strategy that requires a reliable packet-optical technology and a partner that could support us in the creation of new services. Ciena provided us with that by helping us broaden our range of solutions, identify new clients and seize new opportunities.”
  –          Jean-Louis Mounier, industrial director at TDF Group

• “In this increasingly competitive marketplace operators like TDF must quickly respond to customer demands and simultaneously implement new service offerings that help differentiate them in the market. Addressing these challenges requires an architecture that is future-proof and combines intelligence, scalability and high capacity – all areas where Ciena excels. In our collaboration with TDF, we are laying the foundation for next-generation 100G offers, and also positioning them to address current market challenges with new advanced, high-speed applications and services for its customers.”
  –          Eric Sèle, vice president strategic solutions  for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Ciena

Technology Background:

• Architected for network modernization, Ciena’s 6500 converges comprehensive Ethernet, TDM and WDM capabilities into a single platform to support cost-effective delivery of emerging and existing services – from the access edge to the backbone core.
• OPⁿ is Ciena’s approach for building open and programmable next-generation networks with flexible architectures and service offerings, providing differentiated network operator benefits for a myriad of applications, including: wireless backhaul, data center connectivity, cloud networks and private network builds.
• Ciena is the pioneer and market leader of coherent optical technology with 30,000 coherent 40G/100G line interfaces shipped to over 150 customers across the globe, with more than 31 million coherent kilometers deployed.

Supporting Resources:

• Product Overview: 6500 Packet-Optical Platform
• Product Overview: OneControl Unified Management System
• Product Overview: GeoAnalytics
• Application Note: Enabling a Bigger and Smarter Network with Ciena’s WaveLogic 3
• Video: Take10: Network Monetization
• Video: What is Coherent Optical Networking?

About TDF Group
With the deployment of 4G mobile, the surge in DTT offers and new ways to watch TV, TDF now finds itself at the crossroads between new digital technologies, mobile and multimedia. As a creator of innovative solutions, TDF develops the communications of tomorrow including digital cinema, 3D, connected DTT, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, digital radio, web streaming, real-time traffic information, ultra high-speed telecoms networks, datacentres etc. TDF Group consists of over 11,000 sites, more than 20,000 telecoms points of service and 4,400 customers etc. 

Press contact: Marie-Hélène Havard – +33 (0)1 55 95 21 13 – marie-helene.havard@tdf.fr

www.tdf.fr

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, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

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.

Investor Contacts:
Gregg Lampf
Ciena Corporation
(877) 243 6273
ir@ciena.com

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