SAN JOSE, Calif. -- October 5, 1998 -- "Cisco has been asked by the FTC forinformation about separate discussions it had with Nortel and Lucent aboutpartnership opportunities. The nature of these strategic talks were openlydiscussed and well publicized over the last 12 months in several industryforums and many press reports.
"We view this inquiry as a preliminary and routine matter. These discussionsare not a review of Cisco business practices as a company, but instead a review of talks that ended more than six months ago.
"In the technology industry, no one company can satisfy the needs of everycustomer. In fact, customers tell Cisco they want three to five strategicvendors delivering their Internet solutions. Our objective in any partnershipdiscussion is to grow new markets and service joint customers, with theultimate goal of lowering the total cost of ownership and providing choice tocustomers through the development of open systems standards. Cisco has a long history of bringing new products to market through internal development, acquisitions and partnerships.
"We are confident about the outcome of this inquiry. Cisco is an open company that abides by the rules. We are already working with the FTC to provide all of the necessary information."
