ADVA OPTICAL NETWORKING ANNOUNCES 2001 FINANCIAL RESULTS RELEASE DATE AND PROVIDES OUTLOOK FOR FIRST QUARTER 2002

2001 FINANCIAL RESULTS PRESS CONFERENCE AND CONFERENCE CALL

In conjunction with the announcement of its full-year 2001 financial results, ADVA will host a press conference at 10:00 a.m. CET on March 27, 2002, at its offices in Martinsried/Munich, Germany.

ADVA will also host a conference call for investors at 3:00 p.m. CET / 9:00 a.m. EST on March 27, 2002. Investors may listen live via Webcast on ADVA's website. Participating in the call will be ADVA's Chief Executive Officer, Brian L. Protiva, and Chief Financial Officer, Andreas G. Rutsch. To listen to the Webcast, interested investors are encouraged to log onto the broadcast at least 15 minutes prior to the call, located on the media archives page in the investor relations section of ADVA's website at www.advaoptical.com. The call will be archived as an audio file on ADVA's website. The conference call presentation will also be available on the media archives page in the investor relations section of ADVA's website at www.advaoptical.com.

OUTLOOK FOR FIRST QUARTER 2002

ADVA anticipates revenues in the first quarter 2002 of between EUR 20 to 25 million."ADVA is making positive steps in establishing new carrier relationships and initiating small-scale deployments of our FSP 3000 for infrastructure and project-specific metro core networks," said Brian L. Protiva, ADVA's Chief Executive Officer. "Most importantly, our large existing customer base is steadily deploying the FSP 500, 1000, and 2000 products in metro access and enterprise networks to deliver managed services. This is the result of real end customer demand, and highlights the success of our segmented product potfolio and total solution approach to offer the lowest total cost of ownership and rapid return-on-investment."

ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETINGADVA will hold its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, June 18, 2002, in Meiningen, Germany.

ABOUT ADVA OPTICAL NETWORKINGADVA Optical Networking is a leading global provider of optical networking solutions for rapid and cost-effective provisioning of high-speed data, storage, voice, and video services in the metropolitan area. ADVA's carrier-class portfolio is comprised of the Fiber Service Platform (FSP) family of products - explicitly designed to ensure the lowest total cost of ownership. ADVA's solutions have been deployed at over 47 service providers (including PTTs, RBOCs, LECs, and IXCs) and more than 500 enterprises worldwide. ADVA's products are sold through an international network of blue-chip distribution partners in addition to its own direct sales force. Further information on ADVA: www.advaoptical.com.

The economic projections and forward-looking statements contained in this document relate to future facts. Such projections and forward-looking statements are subject to risks which cannot be foreseen and which are beyond the control of ADVA AG Optical Networking. ADVA AG Optical Networking is therefore not in a position to make any representation as to the accuracy of economic projections and forward-looking statements or their impact on the financial situation of ADVA AG Optical Networking or the market in the shares of ADVA AG Optical Networking.