Cisco Introduces IP DSL Switching across Cisco 6000 DSL Family.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2000

Breakthrough Solution Delivers Continuous Investment Protection; Enables Service Providers to Deploy IP+ATM Multi-service Applications

such as MPLS VPNs, Voice and Video over a Single, Flexible,

Cost-Effective Network

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced the addition of IP DSL switching capabilities across the entire carrier-class Cisco 6000 DSL family. Adding IP capabilities to the platform enables service providers to deliver a broader, richer set of value-added service offerings, reduce operating expenses, and increase the manageability, service performance and cost effectiveness of their DSL network.

With the addition of IP services to the Cisco 6000 product family, Cisco is introducing a new category of product called IP DSL Switches. The entire family of existing Cisco 6000 DSL products can be upgraded with IP DSL switching capabilities to create a more powerful and scalable network, ensuring continuous investment protection for service providers deploying Cisco DSL products now and in the future.

"Prior to 1998, the DSL market was characterized by ATM- or frame-relay-based "dumb" DSLAMs that provided packet multiplexing but could not guarantee quality multi-service offerings," said Enzo Signore, Director of DSL Marketing for the Cisco DSL and Integrated Access Business Unit. "In 1999, Cisco led the market with the introduction of the first "smart" DSLAM by delivering fully integrated ATM switching to provide traffic prioritization and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. Smart DSLAMs provide a major step forward, but still force service providers to deploy an ATM-only architecture to primarily carry IP-based traffic. Cisco's introduction today of IP DSL Switching to the Cisco 6000 family adds the routing flexibility and scalability of IP to the rich set of ATM controls available in the smart DSLAM."

The Cisco 6000 IP DSL Switch family is the foundation for Cisco's GlobalDSL strategy to help service providers achieve the true market and service potential of DSL-based broadband access by overcoming barriers to deployment.

(Note to Editors: More information on the Cisco GlobalDSL strategy can be found in a press release that was issued today entitled "Cisco Unveils GlobalDSL Strategy to Help Service Providers Worldwide Achieve True Market and Service Potential of Exploding Broadband Access Industry.")

Industry-Leading Service Capabilities Help Service Providers Stay Competitive and Increase Revenue

The Cisco 6000 IP DSL Switch family provides breakthrough solutions that deliver a new caliber of premium, IP-based, managed data, voice and video capabilities to service providers. Powered by Cisco IOS(R) software, the products enable service providers to differentiate themselves competitively and increase customer loyalty and revenue by delivering the industry's broadest, most feature-rich set of managed IP+ATM multi-service applications on a single platform. The IP DSL Switch family enables service providers to deliver MPLS-based virtual private networks (VPNs), secure firewalls, multicast video, webcaching, and voice services for both business and consumer entertainment applications.

"We are deploying this product in our network for two very important reasons," said Carey Balzer, President and CEO of Vectris Communications, an Austin-based DSL service provider. "The first, of course, is that it enables us to deliver a broader level of services to our customers. But the new Cisco IP DSL Switch also provides carrier-class support for both IP and ATM protocols and that will set us apart from the competition."

The Cisco 6000 IP DSL Switch family supports multi-DSL technologies including ADSL, SDSL, G.shdsl and IDSL from a single platform. Products in the family are fully compliant with Network Equipment Building System (NEBS), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) carrier-class network element standards.

Combined IP+ATM Capabilities Reduce Operating Costs and Increase Scale, Service Performance and Cost Effectiveness of DSL Network Compared to Centralized Subscriber Management Systems

Today's DSL services are based primarily on an ATM infrastructure, but the vast majority of traffic generated over DSL is IP-based and requires service providers to map IP services to ATM in their network. Equally important to the new services enabled by the Cisco 6000 IP DSL switching platform are features that allow service providers to scale high-touch IP packet processing and streamline the DSL network by distributing the processing and aggregation of IP-to-ATM mapping across all the IP DSL switches in the network. The mapping of these services is provided today by applying IP services in dedicated subscribers management systems -- a centralized solution that causes scaling and performance bottlenecks while introducing single points of failure.

The MPLS VPN protocol enables service providers to apply IP streams over an ATM infrastructure to achieve significant scaling and performance benefits. When running the MPLS VPN protocol, Cisco IP DSL Switches function as edge label switch routers and can be directly connected to core label switch routers, enabling service providers to increase the provisioning and operational efficiency of the network.

These capabilities allow service providers to reduce operating expenses and increase network manageability, service performance and cost effectiveness by enabling them to scale their networks to support millions of subscribers with fewer network elements.

"With our Zoomtown offering, Cincinnati Bell/Zoomtown.com has aggressively pursued pushing IP functionality closer to the customer," said Rob Pickering, Director of Engineering for Zoomtown.com, a subsidiary of Broadwing, Inc. "This has been a critical strategy to help bring cutting-edge services to our customers. The addition of MPLS to the Cisco 6000 DSL family will give service providers the capability to quickly provision intelligent network components in a much more efficient manner."

Availability and Pricing

MPLS VPNs on the IP DSL Switch family will be available in the second half of 2000. The Cisco IP DSL Switch family includes the Cisco 6100 family for North American central office applications, the Cisco 6260 product for central office deployments outside of North America, and the new Cisco 6015 product for central office, multi-tenant unit (MTU) and outside plant remote terminal applications worldwide. Prices for the Cisco IP DSL Switch family start at $14,000.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at http://www.cisco.com.

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