Corvis and Qwest Communications Announce Field Trial on Qwest All-Optical Network Test Bed - Qwest Communications International Inc - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Nov 29, 1999

Corvis Corporation Tuesday announced that Qwest Communications International Inc. has completed the first phase of testing and will move forward with a field trial of the CorWave suite of optical networking products as part of Qwest's drive to provide customers innovative IP applications and services on its recently announced next generation all-optical network.

The upcoming field trial of the CorWave technology on Qwest's all-optical network test bed is expected to demonstrate increased optical reach of the network with the ability to transmit both OC-48 and OC-192 signals up to 3,200 km without electrical regeneration.

By eliminating costly electrical regenerators, Qwest will realize a substantial cost reduction in capital expenditures while expanding to a simpler, more efficient network architecture to accommodate the demand for higher bandwidth services. The field trial will also validate the ability to provision optical services faster than today's DWDM and SONET networks.

"Qwest is working with Corvis to drive all-optical network technologies and is impressed with the company's promising solutions," said Vab Goel, Qwest's Vice President of Emerging Technologies. "We are excited to make Corvis a part of our all-optical network test-bed."

Qwest was instrumental in working with Corvis on the development of a leading-edge, world class, optical networking solution for Qwest's next generation network. The two companies have spent much of the past year working to develop an innovative design architecture that will allow Qwest to offer additional Internet and customer-managed bandwidth services.

"Qwest Communications is a leader in providing customers the most advanced applications and services on the nation's highest capacity network," said Dr. David Huber, President and CEO of Corvis. "The CorWave solution will allow Qwest to provide bandwidth on demand by dramatically reducing the time required to provision coast-to-coast routes."

Carriers will be able to offer new services, such as wavelengths on demand, by using Corvis' revolutionary bandwidth management solution.

The Corvis Wave Planner simplifies the traffic management process by providing a centralized, intuitive software package that allows users to effortlessly perform wavelength planning, wavelength provisioning as well as path restoration and protection management.

This ensures that planned and provisioned traffic demands are quickly and efficiently distributed in the network with the "click of a mouse".

"To remain competitive, carriers are searching for new, innovative technologies that will provide a new class of revenue-generating products and services while decreasing network costs"said Glenn Falcao, Corvis' Executive Vice President.

"Corvis has delivered on both fronts by providing the high-capacity, all-optical switching, transport and network management required for next-generation terabit IP networks while dramatically lowering the cost per bit."

Corvis Corporation is a privately held fiber optic equipment company founded by Dr. David Huber, one of the leading figures in the field of optical communications and the founder of Ciena Corporation.

The company recently unveiled the first transparent all-optical switching, transport and network management solutions that will revolutionize the way traffic is moved in the new Internet-driven economy. The Corvis all-optical mesh network is the next step in the evolution of high-capacity "backbone" telecommunications equipment.

Corvis CorWave products and Corvis Network Architecture Services give communication service providers the capability to build a single-layer, transparent, all-optical, high capacity network necessary to quickly accommodate the continuing growth of Internet, video, voice, and other data traffic.

This flexibility can result in a significant gain in network capacity using existing fiber in the field. For more information, call Corvis at 443-259-4000 or visit the Corvis web site at www.corvis.com.

Qwest Communications International Inc. is a leader in reliable, scalable and secure broadband Internet-based data, voice and image communications for businesses and consumers. The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network, designed with the newest optical networking, spans more than 18,500 miles in the United States, with an additional 315-mile network to be completed by the end of the year.

In addition, KPNQwest, Qwest's European joint venture with KPN, the Dutch telecommunications company, is building and will operate a high-capacity European fiber optic, Internet-based network that will span 9,150 miles when it is completed in 2001. Qwest also has completed a 1,400-mile network in Mexico. FMI: www.qwest.com.