SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Infinera (Nasdaq:INFN) chief executive officer Jagdeep Singh was named Person of the Year in Light Reading's Leading Lights Awards for 2007. The award recognized Mr. Singh's achievement in leading Infinera to a position as a technology innovator that has achieved commercial success in the highly competitive optical networking market.
According to Light Reading's editors, Mr. Singh earned the award because his leadership propelled Infinera to become one of the first optical systems companies in recent memory to win significant market share and have a successful offering as a public company.
At a dinner ceremony in New York City, Light Reading's team of editors and analysts handed out 10 Leading Light Awards to a variety of companies and individuals in the next-generation communications market. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Singh said that he was "honored and humbled" to receive this award and that it represented recognition of the entire Infinera team. He said Infinera's success was due to the company's pursuit of a contrarian vision, its world-class team, and a relentless focus on the business problems faced by service providers, rather than simply on the "technology fashions" of the day. He thanked Infinera's customers for their confidence in the company's vision and making possible the kind of success the company has enjoyed.
"Jagdeep showed great leadership by shepherding his startup through a telecom recession, only to emerge from it as one of the strongest optical startups in many years; the Infinera IPO in 2007 was a remarkable watershed event that burnished his credentials," said Scott Raynovich, Light Reading's editorial director.
"Jagdeep has a rare combination of deep technical understanding and a shrewd business mind," said Infinera Chief Technology Officer Drew Perkins.
"Jagdeep has played a vital role leading Infinera in executing on a unique technology vision and forging a company culture tightly focused on our mission," said Infinera Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Dave Welch.
Mr. Perkins, Mr. Singh, and Dr. Welch founded Infinera in December 2000.
About Light Reading
Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. It reaches an extensive audience of executives and technologists within the telecom and enterprise networking communities, as well as the financial/industry analysts and investors who track these sectors. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005, and operates as a unit of CMP Technology.
About Infinera
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems (the DTN System) to telecommunications carriers, cable operators and other service providers worldwide. Infinera's large-scale photonic integrated circuit (PIC) incorporates 100 Gigabits per second of transmit and receive capacity and the functionality of more than 60 discrete optical components into a pair of indium phosphide chips. Infinera's DTN system and PIC technology are designed to provide optical networks that provide operating simplicity, enhanced revenue generation, faster time-to-service and capital cost savings. For more information, please visit www.infinera.com.
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