SAN JOSE, Calif. - January 9, 2001 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced its Cisco AS5x00 remote access products will support V.92 and V.44, the latest industry standards for modem technology. With this announcement, Cisco brings a "Broadband-lite" experience to users accessing the Internet with dial-up/modem technology. V.92 and V.44 enable Internet users to experience the qualities usually associated with broadband for the price of dial-up or modem access.

With V.92 and V.44, Internet dial-up access users can more quickly download web pages, establish faster connections to the Internet, and use a new feature called Modem on Hold , which enables users to suspend an Internet session, accept or place a phone call, and then re-establish the Internet call without losing the original dial-up connection. For service providers, V.92 and V.44 offer dial-up customers a better Internet experience, which translates to increased customer retention. In addition, service providers gain enhanced revenue opportunities with new services, such as Modem on Hold.

According to industry research firm Jupiter Communications, there are more than 50 million people around the world using dial-up technology to access the Internet. "Cisco is committed to the continued innovation and development of new solutions for Internet access, as well as offering enhancements to established technology," said Hoss Christensen, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Remote Access Business Unit. "Supporting the V.92 and V.44 standards enables our service provider and end user customers to get the most out of their existing investment in dial-up technology, while gaining significant enhancements in performance and features."

Modems supporting the standards have been successfully tested with existing Cisco remote access platforms. To gain complete functionality of both standards, both the user's computer and the server it dials into must be equipped with V.92 and V.44 modem technology.

"Consistent with our strategy of offering the highest quality dial access, these new standards will provide our customers with great enhancements in functionality and performance," said NetZero's Chief Technical Officer Jerry Popek. "Given their clear advantages, V.92 and V.44 should reach wide acceptance among the service provider and end user community."

"The dial modem market is alive and continues to grow thanks to new open standard technology advancements such as V.92 and V.44," said Jennifer Liscom, principal analyst of Dataquest's Remote and Internet Access Telecommunications program. "Support for these new standards gives Cisco a significant competitive edge as it offers consumers a broadband-lite Web experience."