Szeto Named Chief Technology Officer At Monterey Networks; 28-Year Sprint Veteran and Optical Technology Expert Joins Texas Optical Networking Startup

Business Wire, May 24, 1999

RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 1999--

William C. Szeto, a 28-year veteran of Sprint who is regarded as one of the industry's leading authorities on optical networking technologies, has been named chief technology officer at startup Monterey Networks, Inc., developer of the Wavelength Router(TM).

He reports to H. Michael Zadikian, Monterey founder and vice president of marketing.

Szeto comes to Monterey from Sprint's Technology Planning and Integration group, where he was a senior manager focusing on definition of the company's optical networking direction. He was instrumental in the development of Sprint's Dense Wave Division Multiplexer (DWDM) system, and holds the patent on the monitored optical bidirectional optical coupler system that enabled the implementation of Sprint's SONET 4 fiber BLSR system.

In the newly created CTO position, Szeto will be responsible for functions including long-term product vision and direction, standardization efforts, and cooperative activities with Monterey's partners and customers.

"As part of the team at Sprint that, with Ciena, ushered in the multi-billion-dollar DWDM industry," Zadikian said, "Bill brings to Monterey a level of knowledge and authority that is unequalled in the optical networking space. With the industry making a transition from traditional TDM (time division multiplexing) networks to the optical data networks of the future, Bill will be uniquely qualified to articulate Monterey's vision both to our prospective customers and to the industry at large."

"Monterey's approach to using optical networking to provide more effective and economical bandwidth for future carrier networks is closely aligned with my own philosophy," Szeto said. "And after working with a major carrier for my entire working life, joining Monterey will be an opportunity to expand my horizons and learn the business from the supplier side."

Szeto, 54, holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.B.A., both from The Ohio State University. He will relocate from Overland Park, Kansas, to the Dallas area.

Monterey Networks develops products that will help build the core of emerging next-generation optical data networks and enable the broad deployment of multigigabit bandwidth services by telecommunications carriers. Monterey's Wavelength Router architecture integrates wavelength routing intelligence directly into the optical network's long-haul core, permitting the instant provisioning of rapidly restorable wavelength routes between routers and switches across the optical core. Monterey is privately held and has raised financing from Cisco Systems, Communications Ventures, JAFCO America Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Sevin Rosen Funds. For more information, call Monterey at 972/301-1000 or visit the Monterey web site at www.montereynets.com.