Sphera Optical Networks, Inc., a metro core network provider, announced it had contracted, designed and successfully implemented a 10 Gigabit SONET circuit in New York to a major US carrier in only 14 days. By contrast, delivery of such services has traditionally taken anywhere from 60 to 90 days.

Under the contract, Sphera provided high capacity, optical connectivity between two New York carrier hotels over its Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Metro ring supplied by ONI Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: ONIS). The customer accepted the circuit on August 27, 2001.

Sphera exceeded Tier 1 metropolitan connectivity expectations by deploying multiple service access locations in carrier hotels, data centers, co-location facilities and service providers' sites and providing carriers, ISPs and high bandwidth users with connectivity in days instead of months.

Sphera has been using ONI Systems' ONLINE platform for almost a year and has over 40 nodes in 11 cities throughout the US and Europe.

About Sphera Optical Networks:

Sphera Optical Networks, headquartered in Edison, NJ, is a provider of high capacity networks for the metropolitan core using DWDM technology. Sphera's customer base includes US and International carriers. For more information, visit www.spheranetworks.com.

About ONI Systems:

ONI Systems (NASDAQ: ONIS) develops, markets and sells optical networking equipment specifically designed to address bandwidth and service limitations of regional and metropolitan networks. For more information, visit www.oni.com.