Ciena creates government subsidiary

Ciena, a company that provides network solutions and services, has created a subsidiary called Ciena Government Solutions

Rob Rice, most recently vice president of federal sales at 3Com, joined Ciena as vice president and as managing director of the subsidiary.

Ciena Government Solutions will have its own staff to serve the government market.

Ciena officials have also formed a Government Advisory Board to provide expertise and guidance as the company develops its federal presence. The board has three members, but is likely to expand. The members are:

* Arthur Money, who has more than 30 years of management and engineering experience with the defense electronics industry and intelligence community, including five years as president of ESL, a subsidiary of TRW. He also served as assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence from 1999 to 2001.

* Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minihan, a retired officer who served as the 14th Director of the National Security Agency/Central Security Service.

* Larry Spilman, a former head of AT&T's federal division and most recently leader of his own consulting firm, The Dalton Group. Spilman has more than 30 years of government experience.

Gary Smith, Ciena’s president and chief executive officer, said that having the advisory board will keep Ciena on the right path to serve specialized needs of agencies.