Cisco Statement: Dan Scheinman, Cisco General Counsel.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1998--The following is a statement from Dan Scheinman, Cisco General Counsel:

"Cisco has been asked by the FTC for information about separate discussions it had with Nortel and Lucent about partnership opportunities. The nature of these strategic talks were openly discussed and well publicized over the last 12 months in several industry forums and many press reports.

"We view this inquiry as a preliminary and routine matter. These discussions are not a review of Cisco business practices as a company, but instead a review of talks that ended more than six months ago.

"In the technology industry, no one company can satisfy the needs of every customer. In fact, customers tell Cisco they want three to five strategic vendors delivering their Internet solutions. Our objective in any partnership discussion is to grow new markets and service joint customers, with the ultimate goal of lowering the total cost of ownership and providing choice to customers through the development of open systems standards. Cisco has a long history of bringing new products to market through internal development, acquisitions and partnerships.

"We are confident about the outcome of this inquiry. Cisco is an open company that abides by the rules. We are already working with the FTC to provide all of the necessary information."

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