May 22, 2000

(DALLAS) May 22, 2000 – Xtera Communications, Inc., a developer of new technologies for long-haul fiber optics communications systems, announced today that Dr. Jon Bayless, previously General Partner with Sevin Rosen Funds and an Xtera board member, has joined the company as CEO.

After spending twenty years evaluating and investing in start-ups, Xtera attracted me because of its unique combination of a top notch founding team and a differentiated product offering," said Jon Bayless, CEO of Xtera. "In addition, I am very familiar with this technology and market area and I am confident that Xtera's product will increase the performance and economics of long-haul fiber-optics communications tenfold. At this critical stage of the companys development, I welcome the opportunity to have hands-on involvement in leading the company as it poises itself for success."

Dr. Bayless joining the company as CEO is a major coup for Xtera. "He will be a major asset in taking the company through its next stage of growth," said Mohammed Islam, chairman and founder of Xtera. "In the short term, as we continue to invest in the development of our unique, patented technology, we will be hiring the best talent in optical networking to move our prototypes to commercial products."

Xtera plans to move its new corporate headquarters to Allen, TX, a northern suburb of Dallas, where they have leased 85,000 sq ft of space. "This should cover our expansion plans for the near term" says Paul Harrison, VP of Marketing at Xtera. "We have already developed prototypes of the technology and validated them in Alpha trials. We have exceeded the design specifications and received valuable feedback as we move onto the next phase of development."

Completing the executive line-up are Carl DeWilde, VP Engineering (Ex Siemens, Alcatel and Fujitsu), and Paul Harrison, VP Marketing (Ex Alcatel, Marconi).

"With the management team in place, breakthrough technology and high customer interest, Xtera has the unique opportunity to change the way we think about bandwidth provisioning for long distance networks," says Bayless. "Very rarely do you find the right mix of market positioning, market lead and the right management team to execute the plan. In this case, all the right ingredients are in place."

Prior to joining Xtera, Dr. Bayless was General Partner of Sevin Rosen Funds, the leading venture capital firm focusing on early stage technology companies. His focus was on developing business opportunities in the fields of telecommunications infrastructure and services created by the technology transition to photonics. Prior positions included engineering and management responsibilities with Arthur A. Collins, Inc., Defense Communications Agency, E-Systems and Motorola, Inc. Dr. Bayless has a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma, a Master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Arizona State University.

About Xtera Communications

Xtera Communications specializes in network infrastructure that delivers the highest capacity, reach and density. Our long-haul, Submarine, Metro and WAN technologies together with our deployment expertise drive customer success and long term value.

Xtera offers an extensive portfolio of Optical Transport solutions for long-haul, regional, metropolitan and sub-sea networks, and WAN Traffic Management solutions for both enterprise and telecom companies.  

With deployments in four continents, Xtera’s Optical Transport portfolio helps service providers worldwide reach new markets via new deployments, and extends the life of their existing network assets with cost-effective upgrades. Xtera‘s innovative Traffic Management solutions offer customers the best price/performance in network optimization.

Xtera delivers compelling advantage to its customers by maximizing network capacity, reach and value.

For more information, please visit www.xtera.com