News Release

Cisco Systems to Build Third Phase of China's National Financial Network

New Development Expands National ATM Backbone More
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Jun 02, 1999

New Development Expands National ATM Backbone



BEIJING, China -- June 2, 1999 -- Cisco Systems announced today that they will provide additional IGX 8400 wide-area ATM switches, software and network management services for the third phase of China's National Financial Network (CNFN). With the further addition of 139 Cisco IGX 8400 WAN switches in phase three, this national ATM backbone for financial institutions will have its reach extended to cover 31 provinces and the four major cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.

As the major network backbone for China's leading banks, CNFN represents the foundation for future value-added services including multimedia and full-scale Internet access.

Cisco has been involved in the development of the China National Financial Network since the project's inception in 1996. Last year the company first supplied IGX 8400 WAN switches for the first two phases of the CNFN's development that linked 200 cities across China, including the key finance centres of Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Nanjing.

In this new phase, additional multiservice enterprise switches and network management systems deployed will allow CNFN to achieve transmission speeds of 155 Mbps, supporting both Frame Relay and ATM applications. Backbones built with Cisco's IGX product family offer high reliability and resiliency, features that are essential to any mission-critical banking network that requires 24x7 uptime.

Cisco has also established an interoperability laboratory within the CNFN's headquarters complex. The lab will enable the organisation to model enhancements to its infrastructure in advance and also troubleshoot problems as they arise.

"Cisco's IGX 8400 series are highly versatile, standards-based ATM switches that support narrowband and broadband applications for enterprise networks and service providers," said Mr. Jia-bin Duh, president of Cisco Systems China. "Over 10,000 switches in the IGX product line have already been deployed around the world by customers such as British Telecom, Motorola, Samsung, and Beijing Telecom. In addition, the IGX product line is already deployed in hundreds of banks and financial services companies around the world, including Bank of America, Banco de Brasil, BBL (Banque Bruxelles Lambert), Goldman Sachs, DLJ (Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Inc.), and Toronto Dominion Bank.

"In China, eight key financial institutions are already using the network, relying on CNFN for 24-hour business transactions. They include the People's Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, as well as intermediaries involved in inter-bank communications and information processing."

Mr. Ye Li, chairman of Zhongyuan, Cisco's integration partner for CNFN, said: "Enhancing the computerisation of financial and banking sectors is increasingly important in China as customers are demanding more value-added services with higher quality. As our networking solutions partner, Cisco has provided the technology and expertise that will enable the entire finance industry to enhance its offerings and respond to competitive pressures, both nationally and internationally."

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