CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) announced a comprehensive agreement with TyCom Ltd. (NYSE: TCM) for TyCom's purchase of CIENA's intelligent optical switching and transport systems for deployment in the TyCom Global Network. The two-year agreement, which covers TyCom's purchase of CIENA's MultiWave CoreDirector and MultiWave CoreStream systems, includes initial orders valued at more than $150 million. TyCom is building a next-generation undersea optical network that will ultimately span approximately 250,000 km and will connect all six inhabited continents.
With CIENA's CoreDirector intelligent optical switching systems and CoreStream intelligent optical transport systems, TyCom will be able to offer highly customized optical services and significantly increase its network's capacity and cost efficiency. TyCom also is looking to use CIENA's systems as an intelligent platform for automated service provisioning, dynamic protection and restoration, integrated long-haul and ultra long-haul networking, and improved network utilization.
CIENA's CoreDirector is designed to enable immediate capital and operational savings by replacing racks of static network equipment with a single, highly scalable, software-based optical switch. A flexible, intelligent, self-aware network is created by connecting CoreDirector switches with CIENA's high-capacity CoreStream transport systems for long-haul and ultra long-haul applications. Because CIENA's CoreStream offers service providers a single, integrated platform that is designed for both long-haul and ultra long-haul transport applications, service providers are able to create efficiencies across the network and transport optical signals further without electrical regeneration, which further reduces network costs and complexity.
Phase one plans for TyCom, a fully integrated undersea network owner and supplier, call for deployment of CIENA's CoreDirector and CoreStream platforms in the Transatlantic and Northern Europe systems of the TyCom Global Network. These platforms provide the optical network intelligence and flexibility required to offer next-generation optical services and broadband capacity at all levels. Supporting TyCom's aggressive network build plans, which are proceeding on or ahead of schedule, initial deployments are expected to be placed into service on the Transatlantic system in July of this year.
About TyCom:
TyCom Ltd. (NYSE: TCM; BSX: TCM) is a provider of advanced broadband communications capacity, systems and services. For more information, visit www.tycomltd.com.
About CIENA:
CIENA Corporation's optical networking systems form the core for the new era of networks and services worldwide. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.