Boston, Mass. -- March 24, 1997 -- Continental Cablevision, thedomestic cable arm of U S WEST Media Group (NYSE: UMG), and CiscoSystems, Inc., today announced plans to conduct trials of Cisco's mostadvanced Internet technologies, designed to deliver broadband Internetapplications and services, including high capacity streaming video,telephony over the Internet (IP telephony) and interactive games.
Also announced was a marketing agreement that will make Cisco's worldclass networking products and support available to Continental customersas part of complete end-to-end solutions.
The initial deployment of advanced router technologies, capable ofswitching at gigabit speeds, will begin in 1997 and help both companiesunderstand the demands of customers using broadband Internetapplications and services. Cable modem and digital subscriber line(DSL) access technologies will be used in the efforts. Continental willalso be among the first broadband Internet providers to deploy Cisco'scarrier class gigabit switching routers
"Scaling routing and switching solutions to deliver secure multi-megabitconnections to the mass market, including small and mid-sizedbusinesses, requires new architectural and protocol approaches," saidPaul Bosco, Continental's Director of Broadband Infrastructure andServices Development.
"By working with Cisco to deliver enhanced gigabit IP switching, SONETtransmission, dynamic resource reservation, multicast, and integratedservice delivery solutions, we will be able to more quickly and effectively achieve our market objectives. We need to meet growingmarket demand, rapidly deliver new services, and ensure the stabilityand security our customers expect. Cisco's new router technologiescould help us achieve these goals," Bosco said.
Frank Marshall, vice president and general manager of Cisco's CoreBusiness Unit said, "Our combined efforts should lead to products whichbetter leverage cable network infrastructures while quickly providing integrated and deployed solutions. We expect these advances willbenefit Cisco and broadband Internet technology worldwide."
The marketing and sales agreements also announced will make Ciscoprovided customer purchase financing, training development, specialsales incentives, and joint marketing support available to enhance Continental's bundled networking solutions for small and mid-sizedbusinesses, educational institutions, government offices, and healthcare facilities. Cisco recently introduced similar ISP businesssolutions programs to the marketplace, allowing customers likeContinental to easily deploy services to their end users. "Thisimportant agreement will allow us to resell Cisco solutions withfinancial and other support to help us deliver leading edge end to endnetwork solutions to our customers", added Bosco.
Continental Cablevision
Continental Cablevision, a unit of U S WEST Media Group (NYSE:UMG), isthe nation's third largest broadband telecommunications provider,serving more than 4.8 million subscribers in 19 states. U S WEST MediaGroup is involved in domestic and international cable and telephony,wireless communications, and directory and information services. For1996, Media Group reported proportionate revenues of $6.4 billion. Media Group is one of two major groups that make up U S WEST, a companyin the connections business, helping customers share information,entertainment and communications services in local markets nationwide. U S WEST's other major group, U S WEST Communications, providestelecommunications services in 14 states. Please visit our Highway1 Web site athttp://www.highway1.com and our Corporate Web site at http://www.continental.com
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News andinformation are available at http://www.cisco.com.
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