Ciena Corp is consolidating its Ottawa operations in the city's west end, assuming the lease of the former Ottawa facility of Blackberry Ltd and constructing two new buildings. More than 1500 employees will move from existing facilities over the next two years – the largest number coming from the former campus of Nortel Networks Ltd. Ciena purchased Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks in 2010 and Ottawa is home to more than half of the Hanover MD-based firm's R&D operations. Once completed, the new campus will have nearly 39,500-sq-m of space and serve as a global centre of excellence. Since its arrival in Ottawa, Ciena has forged extensive links and collaborations with several academic institutions and area companies, helping it to become the number one developer and manufacturer in its niche of advanced telecommunications networking equipment….