Cisco Systems Brings Optical Ethernet to the First Mile With Metro Ethernet Access Solutions on Cisco Catalyst 4000 Family.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2001

Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today unveiled new products for the Cisco Catalyst(R) 4000 family of switches to support Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) in metropolitan area networks (MANs). Cisco's Catalyst 4000-based EFM solutions enable service providers to deliver the next-generation of broadband access over fiber-optic networks while benefiting from revenue generating services through the delivery of gigabit Ethernet connections to residential homes, business parks and multi-tenant units.

EFM refers to the connection between the central office of the network operator or service provider (SP) and their respective customers. EFM technology enables SPs to build and provision cost-effective, high-performance broadband access to their customers, providing businesses and residences with voice, video and data over a single gigabit Ethernet connection. Cisco is leading industry efforts and innovation for EFM with new products for the market-leading, modular Catalyst 4000 platform. New Cisco products to support EFM on the Catalyst 4000 include the Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series 48-Port 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet Line Card; Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series 48-Port 100Base-FX Line Card; Cisco ONT 1000 Gigabit Ethernet Series; and Cisco Ethernet Subscriber Solution Engine 1105 (Cisco ESSE 1105). Also supporting Cisco's EFM solution is Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) Version 3.0. The Catalyst 4000 metro Ethernet solution with EFM technology delivers services such as high-speed data, broadcast video, video on demand, business internetworking, and virtual private networking.

"Fiber is a future-proof medium for the delivery of today and tomorrow's voice, video and data applications such as high-speed Internet access, video streaming and IP telephony," said Dave Passmore, Research Director, Burton Group. "Products such as Cisco's Catalyst 4000, support a new generation of broadband access via Ethernet in the First Mile -- technology that gives providers the ability to offer Ethernet access over fiber-optic networks to businesses and residences."

Grant County Public Utility District: Connecting a Community with Optical Ethernet

With limited telephone, television and Internet services available to the community, the citizens of Grant County in Eastern Washington State approached the Grant County Public Utilities District (PUD) and asked for help to develop a high-speed communications infrastructure throughout the county. Grant County PUD already had extensive fiber facilities installed, and decided to lay fiber to the home to all its constituents throughout the county via their existing rights-of-way, conduits, and equipment facilities. Grant County PUD chose to deploy optical Ethernet, offering both seamless connections with existing customer Ethernet networks and ample capacity to support several simultaneous high-bandwidth services across a single connection. The access layer of Grant County's EFM network is comprised of Cisco Catalyst 4000-based EFM solutions.

"With optical Ethernet access to every customer in the county, the network sets a new standard for delivering high-value, high-bandwidth services," said Jonathan Moore, senior telecommunications engineer for the Grant County PUD. "We find that Ethernet offers a unique marriage between what people are willing to pay and the cost-performance-benefit ratios," said Moore. "It's better business to deploy Ethernet directly over fiber. There are no protocol conversions, and it's convenient for our customers."

To date, 11 service providers are selling services over the Grant County network, including nine Internet service providers, one telephone company, and one video (commercial television service) company. The network now passes 6000 homes, with 1000 active connections. Grant County is on track to connect 2000 customers by the end of 2001.

Cisco Catalyst 4000 Family Ethernet in the First Mile Product Offerings

Cisco's Catalyst 4000 Ethernet in the First Mile solutions allow SPs to accelerate their growth and revenue by enabling network operators and SPs to build high-performance, cost-effective infrastructures that can deliver multiple, revenue-generating services over optical first mile Ethernet connections to business and residential customers. Cisco Catalyst 4000 solutions contribute to a network operator's profitability by lowering incremental capital expenditures while at the same time increasing the number supported Internet protocol (IP) services that generate revenue streams. Deployed with new high-density optical Ethernet line cards, the Catalyst 4000 provides SPs with the investment protection, high-bandwidth, intelligent features and the port density they require to address EFM opportunities.

Cisco's EFM solutions for the Catalyst 4000 platform include the following:

-- Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series 48-Port 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet Line Card --
Allowing SPs to run point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet fiber links over
single-mode fiber within the access/distribution layer of the network, this new
line card provides industry-leading density of up to 240 ports of Gigabit
Ethernet 1000BASE-LX per Catalyst 4000 system. The Catalyst 4000 48-port
1000BASE-LX line card also is the first module in the Catalyst 4000 family to
accommodate small form factor pluggable (SFP) optics. An SFP is a smaller form
factor version of today's widely deployed Gigabit interface converters (GBICs),
and allows for a higher density of Gigabit Ethernet connections on a single
line card.

-- Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series 48-Port 100Base-FX Line Card -- The Catalyst 4000
Series 48-port 100-FX provides another alternative for the access/distribution
layer of the EFM solution for those customers choosing to deploy optical Fast
Ethernet over multi-mode fiber. This new line card can provide up to 240 ports
of 100BASE-FX per Catalyst 4000 system.

-- Cisco ONT 1000 Gigabit Ethernet Series -- This optical network terminator
(ONT) is designed to enable SPs to build metro access networks with Gigabit
Ethernet. The Cisco ONT 1031 is the first product in this series of media
converters and is a remotely manageable device that provides a cost-effective
demarcation point between the service provider and customer connections.
Environmentally hardened to provide additional protection against the elements
of nature, the ONT 1031 uses 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet to connect upstream
to the SP network and 10/100/1000BASE-T on copper cabling to connect to
customer premises equipment in the home or business network. The copper
interface reduces the capital investment in the home or business network
gateway, and the customer or service provider saves the investment in the fiber
connectivity while being able to activate new services by upgrading an
inexpensive, all-copper gateway.

-- Cisco Ethernet Subscriber Solution Engine 1105 (Cisco ESSE 1105) -- This
hardware-based management system for metro access networks supports the Cisco
ONT 1031, and enables remote management and troubleshooting of the optical
network demarcation point for optical Ethernet over fiber. Remote management
and diagnostics reduce operating expenses and increases profitably by
eliminating unnecessary visits to the customer premises. The Cisco ESSE runs on
the Cisco 1105 hardware and automatically discovers all Cisco ONT 1031 devices
in the metro access network, applies the designated configuration and instantly
begins collecting statistics and management information.

-- Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) Version 3.0 -- The Cisco Secure ACS
3.0 provides centralized access control, and management of user access to
network infrastructures. Now including support for standards-based IEEE 802.1x
user authentication of switched local area network (LAN) users on the Cisco
Catalyst switching platforms, Cisco ACS 3.0 now provides access control
framework capabilities to manage user access from Ethernet LAN clients or
wireless clients by using the new ACS Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
module. Cisco ACS 3.0 provides network access control support to the growing
network user population for a variety of Cisco devices and services, including
support for the Catalyst 4000 EFM solutions, for improved scalability and
performance.

Cisco's EFM offerings are a component of Cisco's metro solutions portfolio to accelerate SP growth and profitability in the MAN. As the industry's most complete modular system, Cisco's metro solutions allow service providers deployment flexibility with operational consistency across all metro environments. Cisco's highly available modular system is the industry's only system able to scale to 10 Gigabits capacity across the metro.

Pricing, Availability and Other Information

The Cisco Catalyst 4000 Family 48-port 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet Line Card is available now for $31,995. The Catalyst 4000 Family 48-port 100-FX Line Card also is available now for $15,995. The Cisco Secure ACS Version 3.0 for all Cisco Catalyst switches is $5,995 with expected availability in December 2001. The Cisco Ethernet Subscriber Solution Engine 1105 is $19,995 with expected availability in March 2002, and the Cisco ONT 1031 is $995 with expected availability in March 2002.

About Cisco Systems

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