San Jose, Calif., Dec. 12, 1994 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., todayannounced that it has launched two new network partner programs designed tomake it easier for large customers to both connect to the global internetas well as outsource the management of their network operations. BoltBeranek and Newman Inc. (BBN) has agreed be the first partner in both ofthese programs: Cisco's Preferred Internet Connectivity Provider Progam andCisco's Preferred Network Management Provider Program.

"Clearly, the accelerating growth of the Internet service business withRBOCs, interexchange carriers, and PTTs is an increasingly strategic partof our sales activities," said Ed Kozel, Cisco's vice president of businessdevelopment. "To help meet the needs of our partners in this area, we havecreated a cross-functional service provider organization within Cisco whosemission is to develop, implement, and manage these new customer-focusedprograms. Given their long-standing connection with the Internet, we areparticularly pleased that BBN will be our first partner in both of theseprograms."

In conjunction with Cisco's announcement lastweek (December 8) of theacquisition of LightStream Corporation (Billerica, Mass.), Cisco contractedwith BBN for the company to be the first of a limited number of partners inboth of these programs. In both cases, Cisco will jointly market BBN'scapabilities as an Internet service provider and as an outsourced networkmanager. Specifically, Cisco and BBN will co-develop sales leads, hold anumber of joint seminars, and highlight BBN's capabilities on Cisco's CCO(Cisco Connection Online) service for its customers.

In related announcements, Cisco has contracted with BBN for the companyto provide first-level Network Operation Center support for its US WAN. Through its BARRNET and NEARNET service areas, BBN will be Cisco's primaryprovider of high-bandwidth Internet connectivity. Additionally, BBNwill supply a substantial number of frame relay connections to providenetwork connectivity for Cisco's sales offices in the United States. Ciscoand BBN have also agreed to jointly market IP networks to RBOCs, IXCs, andPTTs.

Cisco Systems,Inc. is the leading global supplier ofenterprisenetworks, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up accessservers,and network management software. These products, integrated by Cisco'sInternetwork Operating System (IOS) link geographically dispersed LANs,WANs and IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Californiaand in the U.S. is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. (NYSE:BBN) is a leading provider ofinternetworked systems that help people work and learn together. Thecompany is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of its development ofthe ARPANET, which led to the modern Internet. BBN HARK Systems Corporationcaptures data through large-vocabulary speech recognition systems. BBN'sInternet Sevices Corporation transports data through managed Internetaccess and value-added services. BBN Software Products Corporation providesapplications which extract useful information from data in a client/serverenvironment. BBN Systems and Technologies provides advanced systems andtechnology integration services. For its fiscal year ended June 30, 1994,BBN had revenue of $196M.