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                                  EXHIBIT 99.6

                     PRESS RELEASE DATED SEPTEMBER 14, 1998




                                                                          
                                                   INVESTOR CONTACT:         Suzanne DuLong
                                                                             (888) 243-6223
                                                                             email: ir@CIENA.com

                                                   PRESS CONTACT:            Denny Bilter
                                                                             (800) 921-1144
                                                                             email: dbilter@ciena.com




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CIENA ANNOUNCES SUMMARY JUDGEMENT GRANTED IN ITS FAVOR IN KIMBERLIN CASE

LINTHICUM, MD - SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 - A federal district court has dismissed
federal securities law claims brought against CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN)
and certain of its individual directors by investor Kevin Kimberlin and related
parties, finding "no violations" of federal securities laws in the Company's or
directors' conduct. Kimberlin filed the lawsuit in November 1996 in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York against the company and
certain directors, alleging that Kimberlin and other parties controlled by him
had been fraudulently denied the opportunity to purchase shares in CIENA in
connection with a private offering in December 1995.

In a decision dated September 9, 1998, but received by the Company today
following its morning conference call with financial analysts, U.S. District
Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor granted CIENA's motion for summary judgement as to
the Kimberlin plaintiffs' federal securities claims, finding "no violations of
the federal securities laws in [CIENA's and the individually-named board
members'] conduct." The Court also dismissed all related state law claims
without prejudice, declining to exercise jurisdiction over these claims.

Patrick Nettles, CIENA's President and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are
delighted that the court has agreed with our position that there was no basis
for these claims, and
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we are pleased that we can put this distraction behind us and move forward with
our business."

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ABOUT CIENA
                 Based in Linthicum, Maryland, CIENA Corporation is a worldwide
market leader of open architecture, dense wavelength division multiplexing
(DWDM) systems for long-distance and local exchange carriers. CIENA's DWDM
solutions include the MultiWave(R) 1600 long-haul transport system,
WaveWatcher(R) network management software, the MultiWave Optical Add/Drop
Multiplexer, the MultiWave Sentry(TM) enhanced long-distance transport system
and the new MultiWave(R) Firefly and MultiWave Metro(TM) short-haul systems.
Through its Alta subsidiary, based in Norcross, GA, CIENA provides a range of
engineering, furnishing and installation (EF&I) services for telecommunications
service providers in the areas of transport, switching and wireless
communications.

                 Additional information about CIENA can be found on its World
Wide Website: http://www.ciena.com.