Agility Communications and Network Photonics Announce Strategic Partnership

Source: Network Photonics and Agility Communications

Network Photonics Selects Agility s Widely Tunable Laser Multimillion Dollar Contract to Support Third-Generation Optical Networking Systems

Boulder, CO. and Santa Barbara, CA. Agility Communications™ Inc. and Network Photonics™ Inc., pioneers of optical networking technology, have announced a strategic partnership in which Network Photonics has agreed, through a letter of intent, to collaborate on the development and integration of tunable lasers into all optical networks and purchase Agility s 3040 Widely Tunable Lasers for use in the company s all-optical networking solutions.

"This partnership is an important milestone for Agility as we ramp up to deliver large quantities of lasers this year. Agility lasers are essential to helping Network Photonics deliver its third-generation optical switching and transport systems to the market," said Arlon Martin, vice president of marketing for Agility. "Partnering with Network Photonics to deliver all-optical solutions will help solve the current bottleneck inherent in networks today and will provide Internet users with bandwidth on demand, a feature that is unattainable with current network infrastructure."

Network Photonics is currently testing and integrating the Agility 3040 Widely Tunable Laser in its labs in Boulder, Colo. As Agility ramps up manufacturing, the quantities will increase.

Developed for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks, the powerful 4-mw Agility 3040 lasers tune to more than 100 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) channels in fiber optic networks in less than 10 milliseconds. With Agility s 3040 lasers, communications companies can dynamically manage optical networks, providing bandwidth on demand to millions of Internet users, while dramatically reducing network complexity and cost. The Agility 3040 laser is available in limited quantities today and will be generally available in September 2001.

"Our partnership with Agility is of particular importance to Network Photonics as we align ourselves with key suppliers that will enable us to deliver our 3rd generation DWDM switching and transport systems to market," said Steve Georgis, president and CEO of Network Photonics. "Our state-of-the-art DWDM systems leverage the unique capabilities of Agility s lasers to provide our customers with faster provisioning times and more flexible networks at significantly reduced costs."

About Network Photonics Inc.

Headquartered in Boulder, Colo. and with facilities in Santa Rosa, Calif., Network Photonics is developing the 3rd generation of all-optical DWDM switching and transport systems designed for metropolitan area service providers. Its optical network solutions are based on its patent-pending CrossWave™ technology, which enables high-performance DWDM networks without resorting to expensive optical-to-electronic-to-optical conversion. Network Photonics systems will enable the delivery of managed wavelength services into metropolitan areas and alleviate the growing gap between gigabit end-user networks and terabit fiber optic backbones.

Network Photonics investors include New Enterprise Associates, US Venture Partners, The Sturm Group, Spectrum Equity Investors, Mustang Ventures and Donald Green. For additional information about Network Photonics, call (303) 542-2425 or send email to info@networkphotonics.com. Visit Network Photonics on the World Wide Web at www.NetworkPhotonics.com.

About Agility Communications, Inc.

Agility Communications, Inc. is pioneering breakthrough optical networking infrastructure solutions that dramatically reduce the costs and complexity of supporting agile networks. Developed for DWDM networks, Agility s first products, high-power, widely tunable lasers, will help communications providers to increase network capacity, maximize existing network resources, streamline the planning process for network growth, and dynamically provision bandwidth. Industry analysts from RHK expect the global optical networking industry to top $41 billion by 2003. Light Reading has recently selected Agility as one of the hottest IPO prospects in optical networking, placing it on their Top Ten Privately Held Companies list. Founded by a team of optical networking veterans in October 1998, Agility is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California and has manufacturing facilities in Allentown, Penn. Agility investors include Amerindo Investment Advisors, Berkeley International Capital Ltd., Dell Ventures, Milton Chang, Meritech Capital Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Mustang Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners. For more information about Agility solutions visit, http://www.agilitycom.com, send email to info@agilitycom.com or call 805-690-1700.

Agility Communications and the Agility logo are trademarks of Agility Communications, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company and product names mentioned are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Network Photonics, the Network Photonics logo and CrossWave are all trademarks of Network Photonics Inc. in the United States and other countries.

For further information please contact Reid Wegley of Metzger Associates, 303-786-7000, ext. 251, reid@metzger.com, for Network Photonics Inc.; or Lisa Blaisdell of Trainer Public Relations, 949-347-1040, lisa@trainerpr.com, for Agility Communications, Inc.

Contact: Reid Wegley of Metzger Associates Tel: 303-786-7000, ext. 251 reid@metzger.com for Network Photonics Inc. or Lisa Blaisdell of Trainer Public Relations Tel: 949-347-1040 lisa@trainerpr.com for Agility Communications, Inc