GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 4, 1995 - Nokia of Finland and Cisco Systems ofthe U.S. today announced that the companies will form a strategic allianceto provide Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)-based voice and data networkingsolutions to service providers. The two companies will work together toincorporate new voice and data capabilities into Nokia's and Cisco's ATMproducts, enabling service providers to offer end-to-end ATM solutions.

Corporate customers want networks and services that can meet their growingdata needs, as well as traditional voice needs, so they can communicateefficiently across enterprise environments. Similarly, residential userswant to take advantage of new, high-speed voice, data and videoapplications, including multimedia .

Therefore, service providers must deliver more integrated voice/dataservices and will look to networking vendors that can offer total systemsolutions. Nokia and Cisco Systems will offer such solutions using ATMswitching technology.

ATM provides scalable bandwidth (up to 622 megabits per second), spanningboth local and wide area networks, as well as guaranteed Quality ofService (QoS) based on application type, protocol and othervariables. With ATM,users can deploy a single, multiservice network on which all traffic types-- voice, video and data -- can be transported, reducing the cost andcomplexity of today's multiple overlay networks.

Through the alliance, Nokia and Cisco will combine their strengths in voiceand data networking to deliver powerful system solutions to serviceproviders.

Nokia, a leading systems supplier to the emerging group of serviceproviders in Europe known as "new operators," brings to the alliance itsexpertise in voice networking and network management. Cisco Systems, aleading supplier of routers, LAN and ATM switches ,has expertise inproviding data networking solutions for large, enterprise customers.

"This cooperation will enable us to bring new ATM products to the serviceprovider market more quickly," said Mikko Heikkonen, president of NokiaTelecommunications' Network and Access Systems Division. "It gives bothcompanies access to each other's areas of expertise; Cisco's expertise indata solutions for large, private networks and Nokia's expertise in voicesolutions for service provider markets."

According to Paul Lazay, vice president and general manager of CiscoSystems' ATM Business Unit in Billerica, Mass., "The alliance initiallywill target the emerging corporate services market, where new, advancedvoice and data services are required to meet corporate customers' needs."

As part of the alliance, Nokia's new ATM product development unit inBoston, Mass., will work closely with Cisco's ATM Business Unit inBillerica to develop new capabilities for both companies' ATM products.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is theleading global supplier of enterprise networks ,including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and networkmanagement software. These products, integrated by Cisco's InternetworkOperating System (tm) (Cisco IOS(tm)) software, link geographicallydispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose,Calif., and in the U.S. is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

Nokia is an international telecommunications and electronics group with netsales of $6.3 billion. The group has about 31,000 employees and comprisesthree business units: Nokia Telecommunications, Nokia Mobile Phones andNokia General Communications Products. Nokia is a leading voice networkingsupplier in Europe. Nokia's shares are traded on the Helsinki, New York,London, Paris, Frankfurt and Stockholm stock exchanges.