News Release

Cisco 3600 Series Modular Access Platform Surpasses 100,000 Unit Shipment Milestone

100,000th Cisco 3600 Series Shipped to the New Bank of
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Dec 08, 1998

100,000th Cisco 3600 Series Shipped to the New Bank of America; Meets Dial and Data Access Connectivity Requirements Today While Providing for Future Data/Voice Integration



SAN JOSE, Calif. -- December 8, 1998 -- Cisco Systems has shipped its 100,000th Cisco 3600 series modular access platform to the new Bank of America, created by the merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica Corporation, further solidifying Cisco's position as the leading provider of remote access platforms. Bank of America is the largest bank in the United States.

Bank of America has standardized on the Cisco 3600 series as the access device for all regional and branch office connectivity, having selected the device for its combination of data/voice integration, extensive multiservice capabilities, virtual LAN (VLAN) support and a broad selection of WAN connectivity options.

"The Cisco 3600 has been a powerful link in our network," said Marty Williams, senior vice president of network engineering, Bank of America. "Its proven capabilities, high performance and flexible array of modular interfaces motivated us to turn to the Cisco 3600 to accomplish a major upgrade of access routers. The Cisco 3600 series satisfies our access requirements today and provides investment protection when our needs change. For example, although we are not currently deploying voice over IP, we will want to in the future, and the Cisco 3600 assures us that we'll have these capabilities when we are ready. We also currently use Token Ring, but are upgrading to Ethernet, and the Cisco 3600 allows us to smoothly make this transition when appropriate."

"This milestone reflects the positive customer reaction we've had to the Cisco 3600 series, which serves as a key dial concentrator, Internet and intranet access device for thousands of customers worldwide," said Gary Mattevi, senior director of Cisco's Multiservice Access Business Unit. "The Cisco 3600 family is attractive because it provides solutions for dial access, data/voice integration, virtual private networks and multiprotocol data routing in a single, tightly integrated, manageable solution."

The Bank of America Network: Three-Tier Architecture Enabled by Cisco

The Bank of America network uses Frame Relay at the local branch level, with an Asynchronous Transfer Mode backbone for the core network, and supports more than 7,000 banking centers and automatic teller machines nationwide. The bank uses a three-tiered network architecture, deploying the Cisco 2500, 2600, 3600 and 4700 series to support its branch offices and the Cisco 7500 series for the other two tiers, including concentration and core and policy routing. Bank of America also uses a full range of Cisco Catalyst. switches.

The Cisco 3600 Series

The Cisco 3600 series is a family of modular, multifunction access platforms for medium and large-sized offices and smaller Internet service providers (ISPs). The high-performance, modular architecture of the Cisco 3600 Series protects customers' investment in network technology and integrates the functions of several devices into a single, manageable solution. With more than 50 modular interface options, the Cisco 3600 family provides solutions for dial access, data/voice integration, virtual private networks (VPNs) and multiprotocol data routing. Using Cisco voice/fax network modules, the Cisco 3600 series allows customers to consolidate voice, fax and data traffic on a single network infrastructure.

About Bank of America

Bank of America, with $595 billion in total assets, is the largest bank in the United States, with full-service consumer and commercial operations in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Bank of America provides financial products and services to 30 million households and 2 million businesses, as well as providing international corporate financial services for business transactions in 190 countries. Bank of America stock (ticker: BAC) is listed on the New York, Pacific, London and Tokyo stock exchanges.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.

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