EXHIBIT 99.1  

NEWS RELEASE  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         TELLABS CONTACT: Peter Guglielmi 
02/16/98                                        (630) 378-6111 


                              COHERENT CONTACT: Shirley Owens 
                                                (703) 724-7318


COHERENT COMMUNICATIONS TO BECOME SUBSIDIARY OF TELLABS

Lisle, Ill., -- Tellabs and Coherent Communications today
announced a merger agreement under which Coherent Communications
Systems Corporation of Ashburn, Va., USA, will become a
subsidiary of Tellabs.

Under the terms of the agreement, all outstanding shares of
Coherent stock will be exchanged at the ratio of 0.72 shares of
Tellabs common stock for each share of Coherent common stock.
Based on the closing price of Tellabs common stock on February,
13, 1998, the transaction is valued at approximately $670
million. Excluding one-time transaction costs of two
cents-to-three cents per share, modest earnings-per-share
accretion is expected in 1998 and 1999.

"In this era of convergence in the telecommunications industry,
the ability to bring the latest technology to global customers
in the shortest possible time is the key to growth," said
Tellabs President and CEO Michael J. Birck. "This transaction is
a strategic plus for Tellabs. The combination of Tellabs and
Coherent Communications allows us to bring sophisticated echo
canceller and speech processing technology to customers around
the world and provides us the resources to quickly explore new
uses for this technology. Coherent's focus on international
markets will nicely augment Tellabs' North American echo
canceller activity, and the combination should result in
innovative new speech enhancement products for both markets."

"I am very positive about merging our company with Tellabs. Our
core expertise in developing and selling equipment that enhances
voice quality will be strengthened by Tellabs' greater size and
resources," said Coherent's Chief Executive Officer Daniel L.
McGinnis. "By combining technologies and resources we will be
able to offer customers the greatest number of options that
enhance the network, improve customer satisfaction and
retention, and provide a competitive edge. We see this merger as
a real win for our customers, employees and stockholders."









For the immediate future, both the Tellabs and Coherent product
lines will be maintained to ensure that the needs of existing
customers are met. Following the merger, the combined company
will explore new product development activities as it seeks to
address the need for next-generation call-quality solutions.

The transaction is expected to be accounted for as a
pooling-of-interests and to qualify as a tax-free
reorganization. This transaction is subject to various
conditions and approval by appropriate government agencies and
Coherent stockholders. Coherent's Board of Directors has
unanimously approved the transaction and recommended its
approval by Coherent stockholders. Safeguard Scientifics,
Coherent's largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in favor of
the transaction.

Coherent (NASDAQ: CCSC) designs, manufactures and markets echo
cancellation and conferencing products for major international
telecommunications companies, cellular and PCS providers,
network operators, and Fortune 500 companies. Approximately 75
percent of Coherent's sales come from customers outside the
United States. Coupled with Tellabs' strong presence in the U.S.
echo canceller market, the combined company will be able to
effectively address the increasing demands for call quality in
wireline and wireless applications worldwide.

For its most current fiscal year, reported on January 20, 1998,
Coherent sales of $73,695,000 were 35 percent higher than 1996,
yielding net earnings of $13,979,000 or 90 cents per share as
compared to 63 cents per share for 1996. For the fourth quarter
of 1997, Coherent  sales of $20,809,000 yielded net earnings of
$4,366,000 or 28 cents per share.

Tellabs designs, manufactures, markets and services voice and
data transport and access systems. The company's products are
used worldwide by the providers of communications services.
Tellabs, Inc., stock is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market
(TLAB).

This news release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, including the
level of earnings of both Tellabs and Coherent Communications,
and the success of the proposed merger may differ from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors
that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited
to, risks associated with acquisitions, such as difficulties in
the assimilation of operations, technologies and products of the
acquired companies, diversion of management's attention from
other business concerns, risks of entering new markets,
competitive response, and a downturn in the telecommunications
industry. For a more detailed description of the risk factors
associated with Tellabs and Coherent Communications, please
refer to the companies' respective SEC filings.