Companies to Provide Industry First Offering of Dark Fiber and DPT/Optical Transport
NEW YORK, NY -- March 1, 1999 -- Responding to the demand for high-speed, high-bandwidth IP-based private network solutions, Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFNX) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced the formation of an alliance for delivering advanced optical technologies to corporate network users in major metropolitan areas. The companies will provide joint market development on a range of scalable, cost-effective and technologically advanced products and services that match the performance of private lines with the capabilities of leading edge Internet Protocol (IP) technology.
The alliance will combine Metromedia Fiber Network's dark fiber infrastructure within major metropolitan areas and Cisco's high-end routers and switches. An industry first, the combination will enable enterprise network customers to establish dedicated end-to-end, building-to-building optical networks that are truly private and IP-based. These private IP networks will take advantage of Cisco's leading edge technology, including recently announced DPT (Dynamic Packet Transport), and Metromedia Fiber Network's dark fiber infrastructure to substantially reduce the costs associated with inefficient copper/coax networks and time division multiplexing (TDM) technology used in today's metered private line services. Such network and service offerings will allow enterprises to implement their own solution for WAN and Internet capacity.
Metromedia Fiber Network's dedicated IP optical connection services will provide corporate and government organizations with secure, reliable and guaranteed data throughput between metropolitan area facilities as well as optical transport between major metropolitan areas.
"This strategic alliance creates a synergy between our two companies and allows Metromedia Fiber Network and our dark fiber customers to deliver a new class of end-to-end optical networking solutions to communications intensive organizations. The combination of our dark fiber and Cisco's optical Internet technology will eliminate the bandwidth barrier and high cost of traditional TDM technologies for these organizations in metropolitan area networks," said Howard Finkelstein, president of Metromedia Fiber Network. "By deploying dedicated IP optical connectivity, customers gain reliable, private and secure bandwidth solutions built on Cisco's superiority in IP networking and Metromedia Fiber Network's leadership in delivering optical infrastructure in the metropolitan area network."
"In the past, metropolitan area networks have been designed around static TDM technologies optimized for circuit-oriented voice traffic and not the data intensive applications used in today's business environment," said Graeme Fraser, Cisco vice president of the Optical Internetworking Business Unit. "Our alliance with Metromedia Fiber Network will accelerate the delivery of IP-optimized networks with a substantially better cost/performance point when compared to traditional solutions."
About Metromedia Fiber Network
Metromedia Fiber Network is building fiber optic infrastructure in the local loop in strategic Tier One markets, enabling technologically sophisticated organizations to implement the latest data, video, internet and multimedia applications. By offering virtually unlimited, unmetered bandwidth at a fixed cost, Metromedia Fiber Network is eliminating the bandwidth barrier and redefining the way broadband capacity is sold.Utilizing Metromedia Fiber Network's infrastructure, customers are able to rapidly deploy state-of-the-art optical networks. Communications carriers and Internet Service Providers gain local loop connectivity to the most highly populated metropolitan areas. Corporate and government customers benefit from private building-to-building networks featuring the fastest transmission speeds available and the highest levels of reliability and security. In addition to its current nationwide expansion in 11 major cities, Metromedia Fiber Network is entering the international market with a fiber optic network build in Germany, and the provision of transatlantic bandwidth capacity through International Optical Network (ION), a joint venture with Racal Telecom of the United Kingdom.
Cisco Systems
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This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, and various other factors beyond the Company's control. This also includes such factors as described from time to time in the SEC reports filed by Metromedia Fiber Network, including the most recently filed Form 10-Q.
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