Infinera Strengthens Executive Leadership Team to Accelerate Next Phase of Growth in New Era of Open Optical Networking

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) today announced new executive appointments to strengthen its leadership team as it further aligns its business to maximize market opportunities in the new era of open optical networking.

“The shift to open optical networks represents an unprecedented opportunity for Infinera with our differentiated, high-performance solutions and vertically integrated capabilities,” said David Heard, Infinera CEO. “I’m thrilled to welcome these talented industry veterans to our team as we strategically align the organization to scale and accelerate toward the next phase of Infinera’s growth and innovation.”

The company is pleased to announce the following executive appointments:

• Ron Johnson, General Manager of Optical Systems & Network Solutions Group – responsible for driving Infinera’s growth in open optical systems and software as networks move to 800G in the core, 400G in the metro, and 100G coherent to the edge. A passionate leader, Ron will bring exceptionally deep optical and IP networking experience and expertise to his role, which he will assume in September. Most recently, Ron served as head of Product Management at Cisco’s Optical Transport Business Unit.
  
  
  
  
• Tom Burns, General Manager of Optical Modules & Coherent Solutions Group – responsible for Infinera’s optical modules and coherent solutions, including the company’s industry-leading ICE optical engines and its recently announced . Leveraging a distinguished history of achievements at Dell Technologies, where he managed a multi-billion-dollar networking and solutions business, Tom will bring to his new Infinera role a strong focus on execution and a wealth of experience, including new market development and ecosystem partnerships. Also joining the company in September, Tom will partner with co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dave Welch to capitalize on the growth opportunity of game-changing XR optics point-to-multipoint optical connectivity.
  
  
  
  
• Azmina Somani, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Optical Modules & Coherent Solutions Group – responsible for optical modules and coherent solutions engineering. Azmina brings to her role over 30 years of experience and expertise in the optical components industry, with executive leadership positions at industry leaders that include Jabil, Lumentum, JDSU, and Nortel. In addition to her deep technical knowledge and exceptional leadership skills, Azmina has a proven track record of developing and delivering state-of-the-art subsystems and modules to the market at high volume, critical to Infinera’s pluggables strategy.
  
  
  
  
• Russ Esmacher, Senior Vice President of Strategy – responsible for strategy, marketing, and corporate development in leading the company’s strategic planning processes and executing plans to achieve market share gains and the company’s target business model. Russ brings to his role over 20 years of experience in go-to-market programs, sales leadership, business development, and technical marketing, including prior executive positions at Nokia and Cisco.
  
  
  
  

Contacts:

Infinera Media:

Anna Vue

Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157

Infinera Investors:

Amitabh Passi

Tel. +1 (669) 295-1489

About Infinera

Infinera is a global supplier of innovative solutions that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit , follow us on and , and .

Infinera and the Infinera logo are registered trademarks of Infinera Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to expectations regarding the impact Infinera’s leadership team will have on its ability to scale, accelerate toward the next phase of Infinera’s growth and innovation, and capitalize on the growth opportunity of XR optics point-to-multipoint optical connectivity. These statements are not guarantees of results and should not be considered as an indication of future activity or future performance. Actual results may vary materially from these expectations as a result of various risks and uncertainties. Information about these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that affect Infinera’s business, is contained in the risk factors section and other sections of Infinera’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Fiscal Quarter ended June 26, 2021 as filed with the SEC on August 3, 2021, as well as any subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are available on Infinera’s website at and the SEC’s website at Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies and can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and “would” or similar words. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.