GENEVA, Switzerland -- January 29, 1999 -- In a sure sign that European carriers are among the global vanguard moving to the New World of Internet-optimised telecommunications Swisscom today announced its plans to deploy a new generation IP network infrastructure, incorporating ATM technology, from Cisco Systems Inc. This development will enable Swisscom to offer value-for-money data, voice, and video services to both business and consumer customers. (IP: Internet Protocol, the common language that runs the Internet infrastructure. ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode).
Swisscom, Switzerland's premier telecommunications operator and one of the top ten in Europe, will deploy ultra high speed routers and switches, including New World Optical-Internetworking technology from Cisco in a new network capable of carrying voice, data and video services for business and consumers. Initial deployment of the infrastructure is expected by June 1999 and Swisscom intends to introduce its first commercial services on the network later in the year.
With data traffic now becoming more prominent than voice traffic on public telephone networks, telecommunications operators like Swisscom are switching to IP (internet protocol) based networks to cope efficiently with the increased data load. Swisscom will deploy a number of Cisco's 12000 GSR optical switches at the core of the new network, plus BPX. and MGX multiservice ATM switches at 50 points of presence (POPs) across Switzerland. This combination of products and technology will provide a high speed, high capacity network, capable of scaling to meet demand for new services as these appear, and to handle the continued exponential growth in IP network traffic.
According to Swisscom's Data & Multi Media Director, Denis Gheysen, the decision to move to an IP-centric network infrastructure was dictated by service quality, market leadership and operational costs. 'Combining multiple services on to a single network offers Swisscom considerable cost savings over time and increased service flexibility. Even more importantly, as one of the first top ten European telecommunications operators to move into the New World, we will be able to maintain and grow our market leadership in both the consumer and business markets and improve the quality of services we offer".
The new multiservice network is one of the major fruits of the alliance formed by Swisscom and Cisco in June 1998 when they announced they were to work together to develop advanced IP and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services for both the Swiss and international markets.
The new platforms being deployed, Cisco MGX8800 wide-area edge switches, integrate IP and ATM technologies through Multiprotocol Layer Switching (MPLS) to enable advanced services such as voice-over IP and IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The 12000 GSR gigabit switch router supports IP backbone linksat OC-48 (2.4 Gbps), sixteen times faster than today's links. It provides a high performance, scalable solution to the exponential growth of Internet traffic.
A Perfect Partnership for Leading-Edge Services
"By making Cisco's multiservice platform part of the Swisscom architecture, Swisscom can offer one of the industry's first end-to-end integrated solutions - giving business customers fast, reliable, secure and simultaneous exchange of all-distance voice, data, fax and Internet through a single connection," said Peter Lomas, Cisco's senior vice president of Service Provider Operations in Europe Middle East and Africa. "Because of the unique capabilities that Swisscom will be able to deliver, businesses will benefit from the full potential of information technology throughout their enterprise and beyond."Cisco's IP and ATM technology combines industry-leading Cisco IOS. software with carrier-class ATM switching to give service providers the privacy characteristics and quality of service (QoS) benefits of ATM with the universal connectivity of IP. With an IP and ATM service platform, service providers can protect their investment with revenue-generating services such as Frame Relay, while positioning their networks to deliver innovative IP-based services such as VPNs, electronic commerce, and intranet hosting. The MGX 8800 switch will deliver a full set of voice features, including voice over ATM, voice over IP and voice over Frame Relay.
Cisco Systems
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