FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2005

Tellabs sees strong market demand for IOC fiber program
More than 100 Independent Operating Companies join special purchase program

Naperville, Ill. — Tellabs today announced that more than 100 Independent Operating Companies (IOCs) have signed up for its Tellabs® FiberDirectSM Solution Purchase Program. Current program participants include Farmers Telephone Cooperative, West Kentucky Rural, Golden Belt Telephone, El Paso County Telephone, and Mid Century Telephone. The program was developed to help IOCs accelerate their fiber migration initiatives to meet the exploding market demand for higher bandwidth to support multimedia services.

The Tellabs FiberDirect Solution Purchase Program enables IOCs to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy Fiber to the Home (FTTH) or Fiber to the Node (FTTN). Companies can choose from a variety of implementation options, including ADSL 2+ or upgrading existing infrastructure to FTTH or FTTN architectures.

"IOCs continue to experience tremendous competitive pressure to deliver robust, triple-play voice, video and data services," said Steve McCarthy, executive vice president of global customer sales and service at Tellabs. "The Tellabs FiberDirect Solution Purchase Program exemplifies our determination to minimize the costs of revolutionizing broadband infrastructure and enhance the competitive edge for our IOC customers."

Analysts estimate that by 2009 fiber access will grow tenfold to reach about 24 million U.S. households. With more than 1 million lines connected, Tellabs has more experience deploying fiber networks in the U.S. than any other company.

IOCs qualified for Gold, Silver or Platinum membership in the Program based upon minimum purchase levels. The program features special pricing levels, increased warranty terms and training credits.

Additionally, Tellabs offers program members a special buyback program to help them upgrade their networks to provide high-bandwidth services by trading in existing plug-in cards for credit on plug-in card upgrades.

About Tellabs
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) delivers technology that transforms the way the world communicates™. Tellabs experts design, develop, deploy and support wireless and wireline network solutions. The company's comprehensive broadband portfolio enables carriers in almost 100 countries to succeed in the new competitive environment. Tellabs is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index. www.tellabs.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

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INVESTOR CONTACT:

Tom Scottino
+1.630.798.3602

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Tellabs®, the Tellabs logo and Technology that Transforms the Way the World Communicates™ are trademarks and Tellabs FiberDirectSM is a service mark of Tellabs or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Any other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.