HYDERABAD, India -- 3 September 2001 -- Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced it has been selected to provide the communications and networking equipment for a new terrestrial network for INFINET (Indian Financial Network). The network is owned and maintained by IDBRT (India's first autonomous center for development and Research in Banking Technology). The terrestrial network will cover the entire breadth of India and seamlessly connect 21 major cities of India including the metros through a Leased Line Network (LLN). The project value is estimated at US$1.25 million and will be completed in 2 months.
The Leased Line Network will provide gateways to the member banks for inter bank applications such as Simple messaging, Delivery Vs payment, Government Transactions, to a centralised funds querying for banks and financial institutes. The terrestrial network will compliment the already existing INFINET VSAT network.
Dr VP Gulati, Director, IDBRT said: "The new terrestrial network links will provide us higher bandwidth speeds from 2 MB to upwards of 34 MB, and will be integrated with our existing VSAT network. INFINET is a blend of both leased line and VSAT network technologies. More importantly the terrestrial WAN network will be easy to migrate to Ethernet speeds in the future. Cisco is the recognized leader in networking and is therefore our technology provider of choice."
"The mandate from IDBRT is a special milestone for Cisco Systems in India. It is reflective of the faith our customers have in us to provide them reliable and secure solutions for their networking needs. INFINET is one of the key mission-critical networks in the country on which transactions and settlements worth thousands of crores are conducted everyday," said B Ashok, VP Sales, Cisco Systems, India.
IDBRT inaugurated INFINET in June 1999 to provide a reliable communication backbone for the banking and financial sector. INFINET, a closed user group network for the exclusive use of member banks and financial institutions, was initially a satellite based VSAT network that had 675 VSATs supporting approximately 200 towns and cities across India.
To set up the terrestrial network, Cisco Systems supplied high-end routers, security systems, network management software and switches. Cisco 7500 series routers form the core of this network, which would be located in important cities across the country. This core network would interconnect the various cities in India. Cisco 3600 series routers make up the distribution level where all the bank branches would aggregate, to ride on the core network.
The bank branches will use Cisco 2600/3600 routers depending upon their requirements. Cisco's PIX firewall security solution has been deployed at the distribution centers to take care of the stringent security requirements of the banks in India. Cisco routed WAN network management solution would manage the entire network based out of their Hyderabad-based hub. Cisco catalyst switches have been supplied to various branches to connect various office equipment within the branches.
About IDBRT
In the year 1994, RBI formed a committee on "Technology Upgradation in the payment Systems". The committee recommended a variety of payment applications, which can be implemented with appropriate technology upgradation, and the development of a reliable communications network. The committee also proposed the establishment of an Information Technology Institute for the purpose of research and development as well as consultancy in the application of technologies to the banking and financial sector of the country. As recommended by the committee, IDRBT was established in 1996 as an autonomous centre for development and Research in Banking Technology.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at www.cisco.com.
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