Press Release

SYDNEY, Australia - October 19, 2006 - Optus, an Australian leader in integrated telecommunications, has selected Cisco Systems® to provide an end-to-end campus communications solution at its new head office in Sydney's Macquarie Park, serving 6,500 staff.

Optus Director Corporate Services, Jon Wilkie said: "Optus is looking forward to moving to our new campus in 2007. The new facility will be a showcase for technology, delivered by Cisco, which will help to provide greater productivity, functionality and new tools to assist our people with their jobs."

The Cisco® solution will include Internet Protocol (IP) phones, a contact centre, a security solution and will also create one of Australia's largest campus wireless local area (WLAN) networks. It will provide a productivity platform for thousands of users at Macquarie Park and help Optus improve productivity by enhancing workforce collaboration, bolstering network security and creating a showcase environment which Optus can use to demonstrate its credentials in IP solutions to customers and partners.

The implementation provides integrated voice, video and data services to its 6,500 staff on the campus and is an example of the future of large campus environments, based on the Cisco Services Oriented Networking Architecture (SONA).

Cisco Australia and New Zealand managing director, Ross Fowler said: "Optus and Cisco have worked together for many years. The consolidation of Optus offices to the new Macquarie Park campus provided Optus with an opportunity to create a truly interactive communications environment where Optus can embrace the benefits of a service oriented, intelligent networking infrastructure. Cisco is delighted to be working with Alphawest to help Optus create such an environment for the benefit of its staff, and its customers."

The Optus Unified Communications solution is the latest in a growing army of customers in Australia and New Zealand gaining productivity and cost saving benefits from Cisco Unified Communications. According to Frost and Sullivan, Cisco extended its market share leadership in the Australian enterprise telephony market to 23 per cent in the first half of the 2006 calender year, up from 16.8 per cent in 2005. Cisco also led the market for IP telephony at 44 per cent. In July, Cisco shipped its 500,000th IP phone in Australia and New Zealand.

Alphawest, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, has been selected by Optus to deploy the Cisco Unified Communications suit of products. These products include Cisco's Presence and Personal Communicator, as well as the IP Contact Centre solution. As one of Australia's leading IP telephony solution providers to Government and commercial organisations, Alphawest is at the leading edge of the voice-data convergence wave.

Garry Henley, Chief Executive Officer, Alphawest, said; "Alphawest is very pleased to have been awarded the deployment services contract for Optus' Macquarie Park project. Our technical skills, Cisco expertise and enviable record of success deploying sophisticated converged solutions, helped us secure the business."

About Optus

Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications - serving more than five million customers each day. The company provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, national and long distance services, local telephony, international telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and pay television. See www.optus.com.au for further information.

About Alphawest

Alphawest Services Pty Ltd is an ICT Services business operating across Australia, focusing on three key sectors of the ICT Services market: Business Solutions, Technology Solutions and Managed Services.

Alphawest excels in aligning IT systems with a company's business goals. We create genuine business value and enjoy strong partnerships with leading organisations throughout Australasia.

Alphawest employs staff in offices located in Adelaide, Albany, Brisbane, Bunbury, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Alphawest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Optus Networks Pty Ltd and part of the SingTel Group.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

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Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

Note to Editor

SONA supports new Information Technology (IT) strategies, including service-oriented architecture (SOA), Web services, and virtualization, and allows enterprises to use their network as a strategic asset that properly aligns IT resources with business priorities. The result is lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and increased revenue, which over time enable organizations to shift an increasing proportion of their IT budgets toward strategic investment and business innovation.

The Cisco Unified Communications solution includes over 11,000 powered Ethernet Ports, Call Manager 5.0 7,800 IP handsets, 1,200 IP contact centre seats, Unity messaging, Meeting Place Express collaboration, Unified Presence Server and Personal Communicator, and wireless LAN access points for internal campus wide connectivity and mobility. Optus also selected a wide range of Cisco security products to help ensure that information security is at a premium for all users at the site, including Cisco Security Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (MARS) and Network Admission Control (NAC). Cisco is also providing Optus with a single client for secure and manageable connectivity to the Cisco unified wired and wireless network, providing Optus with simplified management, robust security and lower total cost of ownership.