WAVESPLITTER OPENS NEW R&D AND MANUFACTURING FACILITY TO MAKE PLANAR LIGHTWAVE CIRCUITS

Former top Bell Labs' engineers will lead experienced design team to create innovative passive and active planar lightwave circuits

FREMONT, California, JUNE 06, 2000 - WaveSplitter™ Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of components for optical amplifiers and DWDM systems, today announced the opening of its new 10,000 square-foot R&D and manufacturing facility in Atlanta. The facility will focus on designing and producing planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) for a booming worldwide optical components market, which research firm, RHK, projects will grow from $6.6 billion in 1999 to more than $23 billion by 2003. Funding for this facility came partly from Intel Capital, an equity investor in WaveSplitter. The facility's engineering team will be lead by former top Bell Labs' engineers.

"To meet voracious market demand for optical components, especially planar lightwave circuits (PLCs), we decided to create an R&D and low-volume manufacturing center that would best position us to serve and anticipate the market's needs," said Sheau Chen, President and CEO of WaveSplitter. "Our Atlanta facility will design and manufacture a complete array of products from simple passive devices that do powersplitting to the most sophisticated ones that do multi-wavelength multiplexing and de-multiplexing."

Initially, the Atlanta facility will concentrate on passive products, shipping a moderate number of packaged passive products per week. Over time, WaveSplitter will integrate active components on planar structures to meet the market's ongoing demand for greater miniaturization, higher density, and increased functionality.

"From a design and fabrication standpoint, WaveSplitter has assembled a world-class team," said Chen. "The team will be led by Yuan Li, a renowned designer of planar waveguide circuits and Yan Wang, another accomplished designer. Both hold patents in optical technology and joined us from Bell Labs."

The new facility, which will include a small sales operation, will employ about 12 people initially, and will double within six months. Sample products will be shipped in the late third quarter of this year, with small quantities of these products to be manufactured by the end of 2000. When a certain volume is reached on the various products, high-volume manufacturing will be transferred to Fremont.

About WaveSplitter Technologies, Inc.

WaveSplitter Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets reliable, highly scalable, cost-effective components for optical amplifier and DWDM systems for both long-haul and metropolitan area network applications. WaveSplitter's high-performance fiber and planar lightwave circuit components increase network bandwidth capabilities and offer a unique combination of low signal loss and modular expandability at an economical value. WaveSplitter was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Fremont, California. WaveSplitter is a trademark of WaveSplitter Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

For more information, reporters can contact:

Lisa Blair
WaveSplitter Technologies, Inc.
Phone: 510-651-7800 x 243
Fax: 510-580-1395
E-mail: lisa_blair@wavesplitter.com