MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 4, 1993 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., and FranceTelecom announced today that they have successfully demonstratedinteroperability between their Frame Relay and ISDN products and services,which were tested in a distributed database and LAN interconnectionapplication running between the United States and France.

The demonstration focused on the interconnection of Novell 3.11 LANsover France Telecom's Frame Relay service in the United States (through itssubsidiary Cylix) and global ISDN using various models of Cisco's remoteaccess routers. Transcontinental ISDN links were set up between U.S. sitesas alternate paths, and a transatlantic ISDN link was established betweenCisco routers supporting a new ISDN software release in New York and Paris.

The Frame Relay/ISDN network supported global file sharing between NovellLAN servers, as well as a distributed Excel database application. Thisimportant demonstration of two key wide-area network technologies workingin tandem proves that users can share resources regardless of location,protocol, or transport services. "This conforms to France Telecom's dataservices strategy," commented Igor Douplitzky, manager of broadband dataservices for France Telecom North America, "which emphasizes userapplications and the ability to supply customized client solutions inpartnership with leading vendors and service providers."

"Partnering with worldwide industry leaders, as we did with FranceTelecom for this interoperability demonstration, is part of our globalstrategy," said Don Listwin, vice president of marketing for Cisco. "Cisco isa founding member of the Frame Relay Forum and the first router vendor toannounce an ISDN strategy and deliver integrated ISDN products. Thesuccessful completion of this test is proof that Cisco routers are gaining internationalacceptance as the internetworking standard."

With annual revenues exceeding $24 billion, France Telecom providesadvanced telecommunications services within France and from France to therest of the world. The organization has over 167,000 employees worldwide, withoverseas offices in London, Frankfurt, Bonn, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, Moscow,Warsaw, Prague, San Francisco, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Beijing,Djakarta, Hong Kong and Singapore.