News Release

Cisco Supercharges Metropolitan Optical Transport by Extending High Bandwidth Services to the Network Edge

The New Multi-Service Cisco ONS 15327 Metro Edge Optical Transport Platform Enables Service Providers to Deliver Unprecedented High Bandwidth Services to the Customer Premises
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Jan 31, 2001

SAN JOSE, Calif. - January 31, 2001 - Building on the success of the industry-leading Cisco ONS 15454 in the metropolitan optical transport market, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, is further extending the geographic reach of service providers with the introduction of the Cisco ONS 15327 Metro Edge Optical Transport Platform. As the newest product in Cisco's extensive IP+Optical portfolio, the ONS 15327 supercharges the edge of the metropolitan optical transport network by efficiently transporting high-speed data, SONET/SDH services, and DWDM wavelengths directly from access rings to the customer premises. By facilitating rapid service creation, instant provisioning, and plug-and-play functionality in the industry's smallest multi-service platform, the Cisco ONS 15327 enables service providers to reliably deliver traditional voice, video, and other profitable high-bandwidth data services, in a fraction of the time, and at a fraction of the cost of other market solutions.

Until now, service providers seeking to deliver high bandwidth services and economically aggregate voice and data traffic at the metro edge have been limited to complex, high-cost, single purpose optical transport products that lack the ability to scale while occupying valuable service provider rack space. Cisco solves this dilemma with the compact, multi-service ONS 15327, which is comparable in height to a standard DVD player, measuring slightly over five inches high. The scalable platform replaces the need for service providers to purchase and maintain multiple systems, and can easily be installed and provisioned within twenty minutes, thereby dramatically reducing the time to revenue generation for service providers.

"The Cisco ONS 15327 is the ideal platform for Con Edison Communications to expand our reach into new metropolitan markets and scale to meet growing customer requirements, such as Ethernet solutions," said Chris Metaxas, Vice President, Sales & Business Development of Con Edison Communications, Inc. "To succeed in the marketplace, we absolutely must be able to deploy solutions quickly, easily, and cost-effectively at the optical edge. The compact ONS 15327 allows us to extend our reach into many previously unattainable buildings, and provision circuits quickly and easily so our carrier customers can get on-line with their customers immediately."

The Cisco ONS 15327 is the first multi-service platform in the industry to deliver OC-48 transport (2.5 gigabits per second) at the metro edge, today. Service providers can quickly deploy value-added IP services such as transparent LAN and virtual private networks for their customers by simply inserting a Fast Ethernet line card with integrated packet switching in the ONS 15327 chassis. Additionally, the platform supports high-density SONET/SDH electrical (e.g., DS1, E1, DS3) and optical interfaces along with STS and VT cross-connection. By increasing the speed of transmission rates to the metro edge, simplifying hardware swaps and reducing the complexity of new service offerings, Cisco delivers the most advanced metro edge solution, capable of delivering radical economics through low initial costs and the lowest life-cycle costs, for value conscious service providers.

"Cisco is the first to market with a high-speed metro edge platform that complements our best of breed portfolio of IP+Optical products," said Carl Russo, Group Vice President of Optical Networking at Cisco Systems. "Capable of 10 gigabits per second performance, the ONS 15327 transforms the optical edge in the same way that the Cisco ONS 15454 transformed the optical metro - that is, by delivering supercharged SONET/SDH transport, integrated optical networking, unprecedented multi-service capability on demand with integrated data switching, and next-generation economics today."

The ONS 15327 extends the geographic reach of the industry leading Cisco ONS 15454, which achieved a run rate of over $1 billion in less than one year on the market. The ONS 15454 has over 500 customers worldwide, an installed base of over 22,000 systems, and continues to lead the next generation metro optical transport market. The Cisco ONS 15327 combines easily with the ONS 15454 to complete the metropolitan network solution and, when managed by Cisco Transport Manager, forms part of an integrated transport network that can be operated, administered, maintained, and provisioned, to radically reduce transport costs by up to 50%.

About Cisco IP+Optical Solutions
Cisco is the first company to deliver scalable IP plus Optical networking solutions for today's Internet-driven marketplace. Cisco's IP+Optical strategy builds on Cisco's leadership in IP routing, Multi protocol Label Switching (MPLS), optical networking technology and content/services intelligence. Cisco is uniquely positioned to enable service providers to reduce operational costs and increase service velocity, empowering them to deploy a new generation of highly competitive New World services.