Infinera DTN Wins RUS Listing for Deployment Under U.S. Government Rural Telecommunications Program

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - February 18, 2009) - The Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) DTN Digital Optical Networking system has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Program as acceptable for deployment by telecom companies using USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funding to build networks.

The USDA Rural Development's mission is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for rural residents. Under that umbrella, the Rural Development Telecommunications program provides loans and grants to support the extension of broadband networks into rural areas and to support distance learning and telemedicine initiatives. Last month, President Obama's new Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced that utilities in 13 states will receive $18.1 million in loans and grants under the Rural Development program.

Based on Infinera's breakthrough large-scale photonic integrated circuits, the Infinera DTN brings the speed and flexibility of the digital paradigm to optical networks. The scalability, flexibility, and ease of operation of Infinera networks make them an excellent solution for rural communities seeking to deliver broadband access and advanced services to homes, businesses, schools, colleges, or hospitals.

"Our customers have found that once you provide broadband access to consumers, businesses, or local agencies that didn't have it before, bandwidth demands can escalate at rapid rates," said Infinera Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Dave Welch. "The scalability and simplicity of Infinera's Digital Optical Networks make it a great fit for rural communities."

The Infinera DTN is a Digital ROADM for long-haul and metro core networks, combining high-capacity DWDM transport, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-powered service intelligence in a single platform.

About Infinera

Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera's systems are unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Infinera's systems and PIC technology are designed to provide customers with simpler and more flexible engineering and operations, faster time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated services without reengineering their optical infrastructure. For more information, please visit www.infinera.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to Infinera as of the date hereof; and actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Infinera's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, such as that Infinera's breakthrough large-scale photonic integrated circuits, the Infinera DTN brings the speed and flexibility of the digital paradigm to optical networks; that the scalability, flexibility, and ease of operation of Infinera networks make them an excellent solution for rural communities seeking to deliver broadband access and advanced services to homes, businesses, schools, colleges, or hospitals; that our customers have found that once you provide broadband access to consumers, bandwidth demands can escalate at rapid rates, and that the scalability and simplicity of Infinera's Digital Optical Networks make it a great fit for rural communities. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipated," "believed," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include aggressive business tactics by our competitors, our dependence on a single product, our ability to protect our intellectual property, claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property, our manufacturing process is very complex, product performance problems we may encounter, our dependence on sole or limited source suppliers, our ability to respond to rapid technological changes, our ability to maintain effective internal controls, the ability of our contract manufacturers to perform as we expect, a new technology being developed that replaces the PIC as the dominant technology in optical networks, general political, economic and market conditions and events, including war, conflict or acts of terrorism; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our public announcements and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information: For further information Media: Jeff Ferry Infinera Tel. +1-408-572-5213 jferry@infinera.com Investors: Bob Blair Infinera Tel. +1-408-716-4879 bblair@infinera.com