SAN JOSE, Calif. - October 8, 1997 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that UUNETTechnologies, Inc., the world's largest Internet service provider and a subsidiary of WorldCom,Inc., has signed a $50 million contract to purchase and deploy new Cisco 12000 series GigabitSwitch Routers (GSRs) and Cisco 7500 series routers into UUNET's Internet backbone.
"It is UUNET's goal to provide our customers with the benefits of real-time access tocutting-edge technology without compromising service quality," said Heidi Heiden, UUNET'ssenior vice president of network operations and technology. "Cisco's 12000 series GigabitSwitch Routers will boost our already powerful network, enabling us to provide even higherquality service on a dependable platform.
"Our decision to inject Cisco 7500 series routers into our architecture is based on the resultsof exhaustive internal testing of multiple vendors' routers," Heiden added. "The Cisco 7500series was the best choice for UUNET to use on our growing network backbone."
UUNET's $50million commitment for the Cisco backbone routers was part of UUNET's budgeted capitalexpenditures for 1997.
Using Cisco 12000 series Gigabit Switch Routers and 7500 series routers, UUNET will transportbackbone traffic at OC-12 (622 Mbps) speeds. This will enable UUNET to provide customers withfaster web page access and giga-speed, real-time applications and file transfers.
Cisco's new 12000 series is the first in a new product class of gigabit switch routers todeliver Internet routing and switching at gigabit speeds. Cisco 12000 series GSRs providescalable IP forwarding and services performance in a carrier-class platform, enablinghigh-speed IP backbones to scale to OC-12 and OC-48 (2.4 Gbps). Future GSR technology willsupport OC-192 (9.6 Gbps). With extensive redundancy and carrier-compliant equipment standards,the Cisco 12000 series is expressly designed to provide the high availability required byInternet service provider backbones.
The 7500 series is Cisco's premier platform for dedicated Internet access and aggregation forbackbone applications up to OC-3 (155 Mbps) speeds. Both the Cisco 7500 series and Cisco 12000series operate scalable and service-rich Cisco IOS(TM) software, providing high-performancequeuing and traffic engineering services to support IP quality of service (QoS) offerings.
"By working with Cisco, a recognized worldwide leader in networking, we can reassure ourcustomers that the Internet services we offer lead the industry in reliability, performance andinnovation," said John Sidgmore, UUNET's CEO and WorldCom vice chairman. "We look forward toenhancing our relationship with Cisco to move our network to the next millennium and beyond."
Don Listwin, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Service Provider Line ofBusiness, said, "UUNET's use of our next-generation 12000 series and the Cisco 7500 series willbe key to providing one of the most efficient global Internet backbones available. Thecombination of the Cisco 12000 series and the 7500 series delivers the speed, scalability andservices that UUNET customers require to optimize business productivity."
According to John Chambers, Cisco president and CEO, "Cisco understands the issues facing thearchitects of next-generation Internets because more than 80 percent of the routers thatcomprise the worldwide Internet backbone are Cisco routers. UUNET's close relationship withCisco enables the two companies to enhance network interoperability and performance whiledelivering new, advanced and differentiated services."
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet. athttp://www.cisco.com.
Cisco IOS is a trademark, and Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo areregistered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries. All othertrademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
