San Jose, Calif. – July 17, 2008, Bookham, Inc. (Nasdaq: BKHM) today announced that it has begun supply of its TL8000 full-band tunable pluggable transceiver to Ciena® Corporation, the network specialist. Ciena plans to use this 10Gb/s module across its high-end switching and transmission systems including its CoreDirector® Multiservice Switch, CoreStream® Agility Optical Transport System and CN 4200® FlexSelect™ Advanced Services Platform for both core and metro network applications.

“We made the decision to use this next-generation footprint tunable pluggable module for our 10Gb/s transmission to provide our customers superior shelf density, pay-as-you-grow optical scalability and reduced hardware sparing,” said James Zik, senior product marketing manager at Ciena. “The Bookham product offers Ciena the ability to achieve flexible, multi-reach 10Gb/s integration with removable line-side optics for enhanced service ability at lower cost points, as well as the ability to incorporate unforeseen future enhancements on a per-channel basis.”

The LambdaFLEX™ TL8000 module utilizes fully Telcordia qualified Bookham components, including the Bookham tunable transmitter with indium phosphide Mach Zehnder (InP MZ) modulator and DSDBR wideband tunable laser. The TL8000 also includes the Bookham 10Gb/s Avalanche Photo Diode (APD) Receiver combined with cutting edge electronic dispersion compensation (EDC), which provides enhanced performance in low OSNR environments, and makes the product suitable for use across both long haul and metro links.

“The selection by Ciena is a real statement about the quality and maturity of our tunable pluggable technology,” said Bookham VP Telecom Sales, Yves LeMaitre. “Our TL8000 makes the convergence of fullband tunability and faceplate pluggability a market reality, and achieves the ultimate component – a ‘universal’ transceiver providing customers with new levels of flexibility, agility, performance and market differentiation.

“Bookham is now firmly established as the leader in tunable technology; we are seeing significant growth in market share with our iTLA (integrable Tunable Laser Assembly), and both our TTA (Tunable Transmitter Assembly) and TSFF (Tunable Small Form Factor Transponder) were industry firsts. The tunable pluggable transceiver now offers customers a third technology option for 10Gb/s optical transmission,” concluded LeMaitre.

Bookham and Ciena will show the new device on the Bookham booth (#99) at the upcoming ECOC Exhibition in Brussels, September 22-24, 2008.

To further enhance the tunable pluggable portfolio, Bookham is developing tunable XFP-E, and XFP MSA standard devices, and other transceiver formats are under review.

Ends

Image Caption: The Bookham TL8000 tunable pluggable transceiver

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Bookham Contact Information:

Julie Molloy                                           or                            Howard Jones

Bookham, Inc.                                                                      BCS Public Relations

+44 (0) 7967 223 448                                                         +44 (0) 7980 772 285

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Ciena Contact Information:

 

Nicole Anderson
Ciena Corporation

+1-410-694-5786

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About Bookham

Bookham, Inc. is a leading provider of high performance optical products, spanning from components to advanced subsystems. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of solutions tailored for the telecommunications optical infrastructure and selected markets, including industrial, life sciences, semiconductor, and scientific. The Company utilizes proprietary core technologies and a vertically integrated manufacturing organization to provide its customers with cost-effective and innovative devices, as well as flexible, scalable product delivery. Bookham is a global company, headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with leading edge chip fabrication facilities in the UK and Switzerland, and manufacturing sites in the US and China.

Bookham and all other Bookham, Inc. product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bookham, Inc. in the USA or other countries.