Leading Industry Analysts Confirm Cisco's Carrier Ethernet Leadership in Digital Video/IPTV and Business Services Segments

Business Wire, March 20, 2006

LAS VEGAS -- Cisco Systems(R) (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced that leading industry analyst firms IDC, Infonetics and Ovum-RHK have each estimated that over two-thirds of all products shipped in the new Carrier Ethernet routing and switching segment come from Cisco.

IPTV and video-service delivery is driving changes at the broadband network edge, making it the foundation for delivering triple play services. Video delivery requires scalability, advanced subscriber management, policy control and application-level quality of service (QoS). Cisco's IP Next Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture is designed to help service providers innovate and offer them the flexibility they need to meet the demands of emerging services.

The Cisco Carrier Ethernet routing and switching portfolio includes the Cisco 7600, Cisco XR 12000, ME 6524, ME 3400, and Cisco Catalyst 6500, 4500 and 3750. The breadth and flexibility of Cisco's industry-leading Carrier Ethernet product portfolio allow its many service provider customers to deliver on the promise of triple play and business services while implementing multiple levels of security.

"Cisco's Carrier Ethernet product portfolio offers providers ways to simplify their networks and control costs while assuring reliable delivery for business and residential services such as IPTV and video on demand," said Eve Griliches, research manager Telecommunications at IDC. "As service providers move to networks consolidated on Ethernet they need flexible architectures that can support triple play service delivery and service migration to converge operations and enhance revenues."

"Massive architectural changes at the broadband edge are being driven by video and IPTV requirements," said Michael Howard, principal analyst for Infonetics, "Cisco's Carrier Ethernet portfolio is helping service providers expand their addressable markets."

Cisco's innovation and technology leadership in Carrier Ethernet have translated into market leadership. SureWest became the first broadband service provider in the U.S. to offer HDTV over a Cisco Carrier Ethernet network. Cisco has also demonstrated worldwide customer adoption of its Carrier Ethernet products and technologies with previous announcements. Cisco Carrier Ethernet solutions are also deployed for consumer and business services at AT&T, BellSouth, neuf telecom, Softbank BB Corporation, Swisscom, Tata VSNL, and TeliaSonera, amongst other service providers.

"There is great diversity of scale, network architectures, and technologies used by service providers to address services such as IPTV," said Mark Seery, vice president, IP Service Infrastructure, Ovum-RHK. "This diversity is addressed by Cisco with a broad product offering that scales bandwidth and other service requirements from entry level to the high end."

"Carriers worldwide are going through major transitions to deliver consumer and business services over Carrier Ethernet," said Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager of the Service Provider Routing Technology Group at Cisco. "Cisco's Carrier Ethernet leadership further confirms that Cisco is at the forefront of providing solutions that enable network convergence."

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