KANATA, ON - February 17, 2000 - Cisco Systems, today announced the initial expansion of its Ottawa Development Centre in Kanata, Ontario. The expanded facility is part of Cisco's plan for growth and recruitment in the Ottawa area. Groundbreaking for the first building will occur in the spring of 2000, with occupancy expected in December of 2000. Five subsequent buildings will be constructed on an as-needed basis as the facility's staff grows from the existing 230 employees.

"Since opening the Ottawa Development Centre in September of 1999, we have expanded our scope of research and now require additional space to house our engineers," says Kevin J. Kennedy, senior vice president, service provider line of business, Cisco Systems, Inc. "This announcement demonstrates Cisco's continued commitment to the Ottawa area as a rich source of engineering and technical talent and our announcement today outlines our future steps for growth in the area."

The Ottawa Development Centre is the site of innovations and developments in optical Internetworking. Cisco is at the forefront of the optical Internetworking field - it has developed solutions that use light waves to transmit data, voice and video. In comparison to any other resource, it is the most efficient medium for transmitting information, and it offers the highest bandwidth capacity for network traffic.

The growth of the Ottawa Development Centre underscores Cisco's commitment to developing cost-effective optical Internetworking capabilities to allow enterprises, telecommunications companies and ISPs to accommodate converged network transport of voice, video and data communication channels. In addition to developing core capabilities in the optical Internetworking field, the expansion will support the growth of Cisco's multiservice switching and remote access business units.

"Today's expansion announcement demonstrates companies can find the highly skilled employees, often right here in the National Capital area, that are needed to succeed in the knowledge-based economy," says John Manley, Minister of Industry. "I want to commend Cisco for recognizing the rich pool of talent that Canada, and the Ottawa area, offer the networking and communications industry. The development of knowledge workers is a top priority for the Government of Canada."

The site of the facility expansion is located in Kanata's NorthTech Campus, a planned state-of-the-art technology campus comprised of over 150 acres with a density of 2 million square feet. Canderel Management Inc., the same company who designed and constructed the original Ottawa Development Centre site, is developing NorthTech Campus.

"The City of Kanata is proud to welcome Cisco's increased presence in our market," says Merle Nicholds, Mayor, City of Kanata. "Global technology leaders such as Cisco benefit from the "clustering effect", in which many high technology companies locate themselves within Kanata's technology community. Such positioning allows companies to reap the benefits of the skilled labor pool, quality of life, joint procurement processes, nearby supply companies, universities and government laboratories available in the region."

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For additional information:

• Willa Black
  Cisco Systems Canada
  Phone: 416-216-8732
  Pager: 1-800-68-CISCO E-mail:wblack@cisco.com

• Gillian Hewitt
  Strategic/Ampersand Inc.
  Phone: (416) 961-5595 ext. 428
  Pager: 1-800-68-CISCO (24726)
  E-mail: ghewitt@cisco.com

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