SAN JOSE, Calif. and ROCK HILL, S.C., March 28, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- ONI Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:ONIS) and PalmettoNet today announced that the two companies have completed the initial deployments of ONI's ONLINE(tm) transport platforms in Raleigh, Charlotte and Greenville. A partner in DDR Broadband Networks, PalmettoNet is a "carrier's carrier" serving rural areas with an inter-exchange and intra-state telecommunications network throughout North and South Carolina and Georgia. PalmettoNet has been an ONI customer since Q4 of 2001 and plans to deploy additional systems in the Carolinas before the end of 2002.
"National carriers have been looking to PalmettoNet to deliver OC-48 services across the Carolinas and to neighboring states. After thorough evaluations of all the metro systems available today, we made a strategic decision to incorporate best-of-breed technology into our legacy network. ONI Systems enables us to evolve our networks to maximize wavelengths and increase our traffic capacity," said Terry Metze, president and general manager of PalmettoNet. "The ONLINE and OPTX product portfolio exceeded our expectations. For example, our engineers and planners can use OPTX, not only to design and deploy networks in real-time and in record time, but also to model for future growth and traffic patterns. ONI's solutions instantly reduce our overall operating costs."
By selecting ONI, PalmettoNet will evolve from its traditional legacy network to a best-of-breed next generation network. PalmettoNet selected ONI's metro and regional DWDM transport platforms to add/drop and multiplex its high volume of SONET traffic in approximately 10 cities. With ONI's integrated hardware and software system, PalmettoNet can continue to scale its infrastructure with non-service impacting network upgrades -- up to OC-192, if needed. In addition, PalmettoNet has the simple option of adding ONWAVE(tm) multiplexers to the network, enabling services, such as Gigabit Ethernet and various storage protocols to augment the company's portfolio.
Bob Jandro, executive vice president for Global Sales and Services at ONI Systems, said, "PalmettoNet is a great strategic win for ONI Systems. We demonstrated our systems' superior capabilities and gained entry to an account that was "sole sourced" through another supplier. Together, we also set an example for the 14 independent telephone companies in the Carolinas who look to PalmettoNet for direction and guidance. We look forward to a fruitful, long-term relationship."
PalmettoNet is a privately held company owned by 14 independent telephone companies located in the Carolinas and Georgia. Its role is to serve as a "carrier's carrier" -- ensuring PalmettoNet's role as the single point of contact within Georgia and North and South Carolina for national carriers. PalmettoNet's fiber optic network spans over 2,000 route miles to deliver DS-1, DS-3 and OC-48 services.
About the OPTX Network Designer
The OPTX(tm) Network Designer, a software application within the OPTX Software Suite, is an engineering and planning tool for optical layer design, simulation and planning. It utilizes over 350 embedded engineering rules to simplify the complex processes of optical system design, perform full physical simulation, and automate system configuration. Other software applications within the Suite include: the OPTX Network Manager, OPTX Management Portal, OPTX Network Operating System (NOS). These modular plug-and-play software solutions may be used to design, turn-up and manage a network, or as stand-alone modules integrated into a multi-vendor operations environment.
About the ONLINE Transport Platform
The ONLINE transport platform supports the delivery of high bandwidth optical services by providing a highly manageable and flexible platform. The ONLINE maximizes the fiber capacity using DWDM technology, which is capable of simultaneously transporting up to 33 protected or 66 unprotected wavelengths per node and enable true optical service delivery by providing dynamic control of the optical layer. It is the only platform that supports both shared optical protection (O-BLSR) and dedicated optical protection (O-UPSR) with a failure recovery rate of 50 milliseconds or less. The ONLINE platform includes the ONWAVE family of multiplexers that efficiently add/drop and groom services, such as OC-3/12/48/192, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), and Fibre Channel, into a wavelength to increase wavelength efficiency and overall system capacity.
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. ONI's headquarters is located at 5965 Silver Creek Valley Road, San Jose, CA 95138. For additional information about ONI and its products, visit the company Web site at www.oni.com.
ONI Systems, ONI, the ONI logo, ONLINE, OPTX, OLMP and ONWAVE 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 statements 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, unfavorable economic and market conditions which could cause our existing and potential customers to delay or forgo purchases of our products, risks associated with our proposed merger with CIENA Corporation, our ability to develop and to achieve market acceptance of new products, our dependence on a small number of customers and our ability to add additional customers. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in ONI Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ONI Systems' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and other documents on file with the SEC.