NAPERVILLE, Illinois, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- Co-founder Michael J. Birck remains chairman

The Tellabs Board of Directors appointed Robert W. Pullen Tellabs' new
chief executive officer, president and director. Pullen, 45, is a seasoned
industry expert with 23 years of experience at Tellabs in a broad variety of 
roles including research and development, sales, and services. 
The appointment is effective March 1.

"Rob is the right person to lead Tellabs through these exciting and
challenging times," said Michael J. Birck, Tellabs chairman. "He brings the
experience and knowledge that Tellabs needs to execute on our plan to improve
performance."

"I'm excited about the opportunity to build on Tellabs' long tradition of
focusing on customers and providing innovative products and services," said
Pullen. "We are well-positioned to help service providers succeed as they
advance their networks to deliver new triple-play and mobile services."

Pullen began his career at Tellabs in 1985 as an electrical engineer. He
has held a series of increasingly responsible positions in engineering,
sales, marketing and services. Prior to being named CEO, Pullen was vice
president and general manager of global services. From 2002 to 2005, he was
senior vice president of North American sales. Previously, he served as
senior vice president of optical networking.

The Tellabs board unanimously backed Pullen's appointment. A subcommittee
of Tellabs directors, led by William F. Souders, conducted the CEO search
process, assisted by recruitment firm Spencer Stuart. The search was
originally announced Nov. 8, 2007.

Simultaneous Webcast and Teleconference Replay: Tellabs will host an
investor teleconference at 7:30 a.m. Central time today to introduce its new
CEO. To participate, dial +1-706-679-3669. Internet users can hear a
simultaneous webcast of the teleconference at tellabs.com; click on the
webcast icon. A taped replay of the call will be available beginning at
approximately 9:15 a.m. Central time today, until 9:15 p.m. Central time on
Thursday, February 28, at +1-800-642-1687. (Outside the United States, 
call +1-706-645-9291.) When prompted, enter the Tellabs 
reservation number: 36183372.

About Tellabs

Tellabs advances telecommunications networks to meet the evolving needs
of users. Solutions from Tellabs enable service providers to deliver
high-quality voice, video and data services over wireline and wireless
networks around the world. Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB) is part of the NASDAQ-100
Index, NASDAQ Global Select Market, Ocean Tomo 300(TM) Patent Index and the
S&P 500. http://www.tellabs.com

Tellabs(R) and Tellabs logo are trademarks 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.

Web site: http://www.tellabs.com