Covad Communications and Cisco Systems Team to Support Growth of Digital Subscriber Line-Based Products and Services.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1998--Covad Communications Company, the first Packet Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (PCLEC) and a leading provider of digital communications services, and Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced that they have entered into a deployment and co-development relationship.

Under the agreement, Covad will deploy Cisco DSL solutions to corporate telecommuters and small-to-medium sized businesses in a number of metropolitan areas across the country. Furthermore, the two companies will immediately begin joint engineering activities to support the growth of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)-based products and services.

This agreement is an extension of the relationship between Covad and Cisco that has been building over the last year. Covad is a Cisco Powered Network service provider and has been deploying Cisco routers, ATM equipment, IDSL line cards and customer premise equipment since it launched the company in December of 1997.

Under this new agreement, Covad and Cisco have expanded the DSL solution set to include Cisco 6100 series advanced DSL access multiplexers, the Cisco 675 SOHO/telecommuter DSL router, and Cisco 7000 series termination products. Additionally, the two companies will combine strengths to facilitate the development of products to support existing and new DSL services.

Robert E. Knowling, president and CEO of Covad Communications, said, "Covad has had a strong relationship with Cisco since the early days of our company. It has become clear over the past year that Covad and Cisco are well positioned to work together in accelerating the delivery of DSL-based solutions. Given Cisco's history of innovative engineering and its leadership in the networking market, this is a very exciting relationship for Covad."

"Teaming with a leading DSL service provider like Covad is an excellent fit for Cisco," added Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president of the Service Provider Line of Business at Cisco.

"Covad's high-quality service offerings and national deployment plans, combined with our leadership in the enterprise network equipment market, provide a great opportunity to shape feature-rich DSL products and services for business users, as well as to increase the rate at which these solutions are accepted in the market."

Covad and Cisco are both members of the Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG), a group formed earlier this year to accelerate the adoption and availability of high-speed DSL-based Internet access services for the mass market.

About Covad Communications Company

Covad Communications is a leading packet-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier that provides dedicated high-speed digital communication services using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology to enterprise and Internet Service Provider ("ISP") customers.

The company has launched its services in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Boston metropolitan areas and has announced plans to deploy its service network in a total of 22 regions nationwide. Covad Communications' corporate headquarters are located at 2330 Central Expressway, Santa Clara, Calif., 95050.

For more information concerning Covad Communications Company and the TeleSpeed(R) service visit: http://www.covad.com or email [e-mail]. Telephone: [phone] or 888/GO-COVAD; Fax: [phone].

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.

Certain statements in this press release including but not limited to statements regarding future growth of the market for and demand for DSL-based products and services and the success of the relationship are forward looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties and the companies' actual results could differ materially from the results expected in these forward looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the extent and timing of customer acceptance of the parties' products and services, the rate of adoption of DSL services, the success of the company's deployment schedule in existing and new markets and the impact of competition from other DSL providers and from alternatives for high-speed data communications services.

Note to Editors: Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.