SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 22, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- ONI Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:ONIS), a leading provider of optical networking equipment for metro and regional markets, today announced that Peter Evans has joined ONI Systems as senior vice president of Marketing. Evans reports directly to Hugh Martin, chairman, president and CEO of ONI, and has worldwide responsibility for all of the company's strategic global marketing.
As the senior vice president of Marketing, Evans will lead the product management, product marketing and marketing communications teams in the strategic planning, development, and introduction of next-generation systems and services. He will work closely with ONI's executive team to develop and execute the company's blueprint for success.
Martin stated, "It is rare to find someone with Peter's experience in the optical networking market. Having worked for both incumbent and competitive service providers and a Fortune 100 company, Peter melds technical expertise in optical networks with extensive marketing experience. The combination makes for a significant addition to ONI's management team. In just a few weeks, Peter has already shown his leadership for our crucial marketing objectives in 2002, building a portfolio strategy to propel our business forward. We are excited about the company's direction and welcome Peter to the team."
Evans has spent more than 15 years in the telecommunications industry. Prior to joining ONI in late 2001, Evans served in various leadership positions at Nortel Networks, including marketing roles with its Optical and Access Divisions, and most recently was vice president of Marketing for Nortel's Metro Optical and Optical Ethernet Division. While at Nortel, Evans also led various organizations ranging from product management to marketing to sales (working closely with ILECs and PTTs), with a focus spanning intelligent networking, data and optical product portfolios. Prior to Nortel, he was at CNCP (now AT&T Canada) where he was a technical engineer for packet switching products.
"I'm very pleased to have joined ONI at this time in the company's and industry's evolution," said Evans. "ONI has proven itself as a leader in optical innovation. My key goal is to build on this momentum by driving further portfolio growth and innovation, and marketing these solutions to help our customers build powerful and flexible networks."
Evans holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a M.B.A. in International Business from York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
About ONI Systems
ONI Systems (Nasdaq:ONIS) develops, markets and sells optical networking equipment specifically designed to address bandwidth and service limitations of regional and metropolitan networks. Our products allow communication service providers to rapidly build high-capacity networks that are flexible, scalable and able to support multiple services on a single platform. For additional information about ONI and its products, visit the company Web site at www.oni.com.
ONI Systems, ONI, the ONI logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ONI Systems Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by this section. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our limited operating history which makes forecasting our future revenue and operating results difficult, our ability to develop and to achieve market acceptance of new products, our dependence on a small number of customers, our ability to add additional customers, our dependence on sole or limited source suppliers for several key components, and current economic and market conditions. These and other risks and uncertainties are described from time-to-time in ONI Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ONI Systems' quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2001, ONI Systems' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and other documents on file with the SEC.