Bookham qualification labs achieve International Standard ISO/IEC 17025

Bookham now able to offer reliability and qualification test capabilities to other companies

Caswell, UK - September 11 2006, Bookham, Inc. (Nasdaq: BKHM), a leading provider of optical components, modules and subsystems, today announced that it has achieved the International Standard ISO 17025 for testing and calibration. The achievement means that the company's reliability and qualification testing facilities can now provide independent test data on Bookham products and can offer an independent testing service to other companies.

The accreditation follows a third party audit of the Bookham reliability laboratory at Caswell, which assesses all of the company's products for reliability and longevity. The audit, which was conducted by the British Standards Institute (BSI), confirmed that the quality and reliability data produced by the laboratory is impartial and satisfies the stringent standards required.

"Bookham has been assessed by a world-renowned, external authority, which has confirmed that our laboratory can be trusted, not only to produce authenticated results for our own products, but now for the products of other companies," said Reiner Breu, VP, Quality and Reliability at Bookham.

"This complements the Bookham existing TL9000 global accreditation and is another major step forward in the continuous enhancement of the services we offer our customers. It has only been possible through continuous commitment and investment in test equipment, facilities and expertise, and the benefits are already being seen, with a number of customer audits demonstrating the high quality of service provided by Bookham."

To achieve the standard, Bookham has established a separate service, with its own organisation and line management, that meets the requirements of ISO 17025. This involved the production and documentation of a quality management system and quality management procedures embracing the management and technical requirements that comprise the standard.