LINTHICUM, Md., May 8 -- Ciena Corp has won a two-year contract initially valued at $150 million to supply TyCom Ltd. with its optical switching and transport systems. TyCom, which is building a high-speed undersea optical network that ultimately will connect all six inhabited continents, will use Ciena's CoreDirector optical switching systems and CoreStream transport systems to offer customized services and increase its network's capacity and cost efficiency. TyCom also may use Ciena's products for automated service provisioning, protection and restoration, long-haul and ultra long-haul networking, and improved network use, Ciena said. Ciena's CoreDirector helps carriers save immediate capital and operational costs by replacing racks of network equipment with a single, highly scalable, software-based optical switch. CoreDirector switches are then connected with Ciena's high-capacity CoreStream transport systems for long-distance use.