ATLANTA, June 5, 2001 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced that it is extending G.SHDSL (single-pair high-bit-rate DSL) capabilities to its portfolio of customer premise equipment (CPE) routers to offer the industry's broadest range of G.SHDSL business-class solutions. The expanded CPE portfolio creates an end-to-end solution with G.SHDSL line cards for the Cisco 6000 IP DSL Switch family that enables service providers to offer value-added voice and data services and reduce operational costs for deployment and management, while extending their reach to all business customer segments - from small offices and teleworkers, to small and medium businesses, to enterprise branch offices.

The new CPE products being announced include: the Cisco 828 G.SHDSL router for small offices and teleworkers; the Cisco SOHO 78 G.SHDSL router for small office/home office customers; the Cisco IAD2400 Series Integrated Access Devices with G.SHDSL for small and medium-sized business customers; and G.SHDSL WAN interface cards (WICs) for the Cisco 1700, 2600 and 3600 series of modular, multiservice access routers for small and medium businesses and enterprise branch offices.

Cisco also announced today that three service providers - NTELOS in the United States, bbned of the Netherlands, and Intraconnect of Greece - have chosen to complement their current ADSL (asymmetric DSL) service offerings based on industry-leading Cisco IP DSL solutions to include G.SHDSL business-class services.

Based on the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) G.991.2 global industry standard, the Cisco G.SHDSL solution delivers rate-adaptive symmetrical data rates from 192 Kbps up to 2.3 Mbps on single wire pair, making it ideal for business applications. In addition, the G.SHDSL signal has a greater distance reach from the central office than ADSL and proprietary SDSL connections, allowing service providers to serve more customers and extend service to more geographical regions.

Cisco G.SHDSL solutions enable service providers to generate new revenue by expanding their customer base and catering to business customers with a cost-effective alternative to traditional leased lines.

"Cisco G.SHDSL business-class solutions enable our service provider customers to increase their profitability on DSL services by better addressing the largely untapped market of small and medium businesses that are clamoring for cost-effective broadband connections," said Enzo Signore, Director of Marketing for the Cisco DSL Business Unit. "By combining G.SHDSL technology with our Cisco DSL product families and Cisco IOS. Software - which is the foundation for value-added services in our DSL solutions- we are delivering a uniquely powerful solution that enables service providers to increase revenue by reaching more customers with higher-margin, premium DSL services, such as managed data services, firewall security, virtual private networks (VPNs), voice-over-IP, and distance learning. Additionally, service providers can look to decrease the cost of deploying these services with Cisco's management tools and services."

Service Providers Successfully Deploy Cisco G.SHDSL Solutions

NTELOS, a Virginia-based integrated communications provider that sells advanced voice and data networking services to business and residential customers, has chosen to deploy Cisco G.SHDSL line cards in their Cisco 6160 IP DSL switches after having evaluated G.SHDSL services recently alongside ADSL and SDSL services they currently offer through the Cisco platform. "NTELOS' evaluation of the G.SHDSL solution has gone very well thus far," said Dave Maccarelli, Chief Technology Officer at NTELOS. "We will begin deploying Cisco's new G.SHDSL equipment at existing sites and with all new Cisco 6160 IP DSL deployments to further expand upon our existing services because the standards-based implementation proved to be easier to deploy and offers better performance.

"We also believe the Cisco solution will give us a time-to-market advantage because they have the solution we need, it's available now, and it delivers the connectivity, next-generation functionality, and open, standards-based interfaces that will enable us to quickly deploy new voice services, managed firewall services, and both IPSec and MPLS-based VPNs to our small- and medium-business customers."

Bbned, a broadband service provider in Amsterdam that is wholly owned by Telecom Italia, is also deploying G.SHDSL business-class services using Cisco solutions after having completed successful trials. bbned sells wholesale DSL solutions to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Application Service Providers (ASPs), telecommunications providers and other businesses. "The Cisco G.SHDSL solution is a great complement to the capabilities of our Cisco based DSL network because it enables new symmetric bandwidth options to match the managed IP and ATM business-class services our customers have come to rely on," said Hans Rietkerk, CEO of bbned. "And with the greater reach of the Cisco G.SHDSL solution, we can expand services to more customers."

Intraconnect, a broadband telecommunications provider that provides VPNs, data, and voice services to business customers in Greece, selected the Cisco G.SHDSL solution after receiving extremely favorable test results, proving that they could build on their current infrastructure with minimum risk and maximum benefits for their network. "Following thorough trials with Cisco G.SHDSL products, we are convinced that the Cisco next-generation DSL solution delivers a competitive advantage over service providers deploying only ADSL," said Leo Pantazakos, Chief Executive Officer at Intraconnect. "There were a number of positive factors that influenced our decision to select Cisco's end-to-end G.SHDSL solution, however, the most compelling is that we found we could deliver additional business-class features and reach more customers. This translates into being able to deliver more value-added services to our customers with less equipment, fewer POPs, and lower operating costs."

Cisco End-to-End Next-Generation DSL Leadership

The new G.SHDSL business-class CPE portfolio creates an end-to-end solution with G.SHDSL line cards already shipping on the Cisco 6000 family of IP DSL Switches. The Cisco G.SHDSL solutions complement a full portfolio of parallel ADSL business-class solutions already available across the entire Cisco DSL product line.

Cisco is the #1 vendor worldwide in the next-generation DSLAM market with more than 49 percent market share in all next-generation ports shipped and more than 55 percent market share in next-generation ADSL ports shipped, according to the First Quarter, 2001, Broadband Equipment Worldwide Market Share Report published by Synergy Research Group, a leading market research and analysis firm.

Pricing and Availability

G.SHDSL line cards for Cisco 6000 series IP DSL switches are available now at a list price of $1,900. Cisco 828 G.SHDSL routers and Cisco SOHO 78 G.SHDSL routers will be available the first week of July 2001 at list prices of $749 and $649, respectively. Cisco IAD2400 Series Integrated Access Devices with G.SHDSL will be available in the fall of 2001 with list prices starting from $2,695. G.SHDSL WIC cards for Cisco 2600 and 3600 series modular access routers will be available in the fall of 2001. Availability of G.SHDSL WIC cards for Cisco 1700 series modular access routers will be announced at a later date.