Ciena Cites Progress

Smith says the company's 44% annual growth rate puts that target in easy reach.

"We've got some challenges, no doubt," says Smith, "but we believe we can get there."

One encouraging sign is that Ciena has been winning more orders with outfits like Sprint (S Quote) and BellSouth (BLS Quote), two telcos that happen to be building network capacity as others rethink spending plans. For example, big customers like AT&T (T Quote) and MCI are wrapped up in merger integration planning and not yet ready for network overhauls.

From Smith's standpoint, the stabilization of the telco market is starting to provide Ciena benefits.

"We're seeing larger order sizes coming through the existing customer base and new deals," says Smith. "I think it's a reflection of the steadily improving market."