Shanghai Telecom Expands Network Capacity with Cisco CRS-1 to Support Business Growth; Carrier to Use Cisco CRS-1 Multichassis System to Simplify Network While Increasing Bandwidth.

BEIJING -- Cisco Systems(R) (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced that Shanghai Telecom will expand on its Cisco(R) Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) by deploying the Cisco CRS-1 multichassis carrier routing system to collapse the super point of presence ("Super-POP") for its current high-speed core IP network and to expand its gateway capacity to meet the future growth demands of its business. This is the first telecommunications carrier in China to deploy the Cisco CRS-1 multichassis carrier routing system, which offers continuous system operation, unprecedented service flexibility, and system longevity.

Through the deployment of the Cisco CRS-1, the current network nodes for Shanghai Telecom's IP network gateway will be collapsed into super nodes with increased uplink and downlink bandwidth. The Cisco CRS-1 adopted by Shanghai Telecom can be scaled up to 72 line-card shelves, totaling 1,152 slots, providing room for system expansion to satisfy the company's expected needs for the next 10 to 15 years.

Since 2001, Cisco has been providing equipment, technology and service support for the construction and expansion of Shanghai Telecom's high speed IP network. Through years of development, Shanghai Telecom IP network has been able to offer an increasingly advanced array of IP-based services and network connections to ChinaNet, China Telecom's national Internet network. To expand its data business and meet growing service and capacity needs, China Telecom is continuing its migration toward an entirely IP-based infrastructure and multiservice, providing sound network support for IP NGN transport, third-generation (3G) wireless, and video multicast businesses.

"We have been working closely with Shanghai Telecom for many years to provide world-class telecommunications service for Chinese enterprise and residential customers," says Thomas Lam, president of Cisco Systems China. "Shanghai Telecom is the first in the region to use the multichassis configuration of Cisco CRS-1 to boost its general network performance, providing an example for telecommunications carriers in the Asia Pacific region and worldwide. We are delighted to see the extraordinary performance of our products used in this expansion, further proof of Cisco's commitment to providing greater innovation for our customers."

Statistics show that Shanghai Telecom is currently China's leading broadband service supplier with more than 1.7 million broadband users and a large number of Internet data center users. The non-voice business of Shanghai Telecom in the first half of 2005 accounted for 40 percent of its total business, surpassing in advance its goal of reaching 35 percent by 2007.

The Cisco CRS-1 selected by Shanghai Telecom embraces a series of new software and hardware innovations, permitting maintenance and upgrades without any service interruption. Its unique fault-tolerance capacity and advanced service flexibility can offer carriers higher reliability, lower operation and maintenance risks, and greater system longevity, helping them to run their business more cost-efficiently.

The Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System represents a groundbreaking achievement. It is a carrier-class routing system with the highest capacity in the world and has been recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records. Since its launch in May 2004, 28 telecommunications carriers and research organizations around the world have deployed or have begun testing the Cisco CRS-1 on their core IP networks. These organizations include Cable & Wireless, Comcast, the National Institute of Informatics' SuperSINET research network in Japan, SaskTel, Softbank Yahoo BB, Swiss Telecom, and Telstra. The China Education and Research Network (CERNET), the largest education network in the world, has also used the Cisco CRS-1 to upgrade its national backbone network. And China Telecom also announced to adopt Cisco CRS-1 to integrate the supercore network nodes of ChinaNet, the largest IP service network in China.

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