Avanex Board Chairman Paul Smith said that Barbarossa's knowledge of the company and industry, his strong relationships with customers, and his performance during his tenure as Interim Chief Executive Officer were key factors in the board's decision.

"During his tenure as Interim Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Barbarossa has begun executing on key initiatives aimed at improving financial performance, including reducing the company's cost structure and expediting time-to-market on key product platforms," Smith said. "Giovanni has secured the confidence of the board, our customers, and employees, and we believe that he is the right person to lead Avanex during these challenging times."

Dr. Barbarossa said, "Avanex has significant opportunities due to its innovative operating model, which combines a low fixed-cost structure with industry-leading technology. We are investing in new development efforts to expand our product portfolio and engaging with Tier-1 customers for their next generation photonic solution needs."

Dr. Barbarossa has more than 15 years of experience in the optical networking industry, including 8 years with Avanex in a variety of technical and operational roles. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Barbarossa served as Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice President. Dr. Barbarossa joined Avanex in 2000 and previously held senior management roles in the Optical Networking Division of Agilent Technologies and in the Network Product Group of Lucent Technologies. He was previously a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Labs and a research associate at BT Labs.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))

http://www.10meters.com

Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com

Expected next investor conference call information:
Conference Call Date: 11/6/2008
Conference Call Time: 4:30 PM
Conference Call URL: http://investor.avanex.com/events.cfm

Expected next split:
Split Announcement Date: 7/22/2008
Split Record Date: 8/12/2008
Stock Split Date: 8/12/2008
Stock Split Ratio: 1:15

The PowerShaper TDC family manages dispersion continuously over a wide optical pass-band using patented, thermally tuned, solid-state optical etalons. The TDC combines low phase error, low group delay ripple, and all-pass amplitude performance with precise, stable control electronics and a feature-rich control language, all in a compact form factor.

"Transmission systems must be designed around a chromatic dispersion budget for both fixed and variable dispersion sources," said Richard Smart, General Manager of Advanced Module and Subsystem Products at Avanex. "Long distance submarine systems can benefit by combining fixed dispersion compensation modules with tunable dispersion compensation. While most of the link dispersion can be compensated by fixed fiber modules, management of residual and variable dispersion is greatly simplified with a TDC that compensates for a wide range of dispersion values."

An additional application occurs in a repair situation where immediate, on-site TDC adjustments can eliminate the need for additional link engineering and stocking an inventory of spare dispersion compensation modules with specific values.

Scott Parker, Senior Vice President of Sales at Avanex, commented, "Error-free system performance relies on effective compensation of network impairments. Avanex is proud to offer the industry's most capable and responsive TDC modules to meet the demanding dispersion compensation requirements of long reach submarine systems."

Avanex's TDC products will be on display in the Avanex booth at ECOC Expo 2008, September 22-24, stand 94-97.

About Avanex

Avanex Corporation meets the needs of fiber optic communications networks for greater capacity, longer distance transmissions, improved connectivity, higher speeds and lower costs. Our solutions enable optical wavelength multiplexing, dispersion compensation, switching and routing, transmission, and amplification, and include network-managed subsystems. Avanex Corporation, incorporated in 1997, is headquartered in Fremont, California and maintains facilities in New York, Florida, Shanghai, France, Italy and Thailand. To learn more about Avanex Corporation, please visit www.avanex.com.

SOURCE: Avanex Corporation

Avanex Corporation 
Tedd Siegel, +1-510-897-4188 
Tedd_Siegel@avanex.com

Richard Smart, General Manager of Advanced Module and Subsystem Products at Avanex, commenting on this joint activity, said, "As the market leader in commercial deployment of 40 Gbps optical transmission subsystems, StrataLight is well-positioned to develop the next generation of optical sub-systems running at 100 Gbps. We appreciate StrataLight's selection of Avanex amplifiers and dispersion compensation products to facilitate the successful system testing of this network breakthrough."

Avanex will be supplying dispersion compensation modules (DCM) based on its proven, reliable fiber-based technology. These modules compensate for accumulated chromatic dispersion and dispersion slope. DCMs are deployed along the span at intervals to counterbalance the inherent dispersion build-up.

Avanex is also supplying high performance, gain-flattened optical amplifiers to increase network reach with a minimum of added noise. The tests will be conducted over a 1500 km total length of 100 km spans.

Roberto Marcoccia, Vice President of Advanced Technology at StrataLight, added, "Avanex is the industry-leading source for high performance and reliable signal conditioning and amplification devices. Avanex's system level optical component technology allows StrataLight to test our next-generation 100 Gbps transponders over a state-of-the-art optical line system."

About StrataLight: StrataLight Communications is the leader in commercial deployment of ultra high capacity optical transmission subsystems with line rates in excess of 40 Gbps. StrataLight Communications enables service providers to address the growing demand for bandwidth driven by IP converged services using their existing fiber network infrastructure. Our products are sold to service providers by optical networking (OEM) partners. For more information, please visit www.StrataLight.com.

About Avanex: Avanex Corporation meets the needs of fiber optic communications networks for greater capacity, longer distance transmissions, improved connectivity, higher speeds and lower costs. Our solutions enable optical wavelength multiplexing, dispersion compensation, switching and routing, transmission, and amplification, and include network-managed subsystems. Avanex Corporation, incorporated in 1997, is headquartered in Fremont, California and maintains facilities in New York, Florida, Shanghai, France, Italy and Thailand. To learn more about Avanex Corporation, please visit www.avanex.com.

StrataLight Communications, the StrataLight Communications logo, OTS, and OTM, are trademarks of StrataLight Communications, Inc, or its affiliates in the U.S and other countries.

Contacts:
David Sykes
StrataLight Communications, Inc.
Tel. +1 (770) 559-1655
dsykes@stratalight.com

Tedd Siegel
 Avanex Corporation
Tel. +1 (510) 897 4188
Tedd_Siegel@avanex.com

SOURCE: StrataLight

mailto:dsykes@stratalight.com
mailto:Tedd_Siegel@avanex.com