SAN JOSE, CA., October 10, 2001 - Cisco Systems Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, announced today the Cisco Service Carrier Community program intended to promote the growth of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) traffic and propel global service providers to new levels of revenue and profitability. As members of the Cisco Service Carrier Community, Cisco-based service providers around the world can work together to exchange traffic and maximize respective application strengths - with the ultimate objective of delivering end-to-end VoIP services.
According to Infonetics Research, worldwide revenues for next generation voice products are forecasted to total $6 billion in 2004. As the overall leader in VoIP technology, Cisco is well positioned to help service providers take advantage of this growth market. Four of Cisco's VoIP carrier customers, for example, have each already transported more than one billion VoIP minutes, and one has carried more than two billion minutes of VoIP.
Members of the Cisco Service Carrier Community program are provided with a password protected, searchable Web database containing profiles of all members, including the traffic routes they serve, their contact information and application services they provide. This allows service providers to find business partners for origination, transport, and termination of voice traffic in over 200 countries around the world. And for those members who have achieved Cisco Powered Network status and are providing business communications services, the program will help link them with Cisco's extensive enterprise and small/medium business customer base. According to a recent report by Synergy Research, Cisco has a 45% share of the rapidly growing LAN telephony market.
"This program re-affirms Cisco's commitment to the service provider market, and will enable a "network of networks," stated Alistair Woodman, director of marketing, voice technology center at Cisco Systems. "Because there are hundreds of service providers worldwide using Cisco's VoIP technology, we are uniquely able to bring this critical mass of companies together. By keeping VoIP-based calls on VoIP networks, our customers can reduce transport cost and provide a more feature-rich set of services."
Through the Service Carrier Community web page, members can access links to relevant product and solution information, and to the Cisco Service Provider Solutions Ecosystem. This is a community of technology and services companies enabling service providers to rapidly deploy and manage innovative networking services. Cisco Service Provider Solutions Ecosystem Partners support open, standards-based architectures and a shared commitment to interoperable, multi-vendor solutions.
Service Carrier members will also be given the opportunity to meet potential business partners at Cisco-sponsored networking events around the world. All of these benefits are intended to help carriers expand their VoIP service portfolio, grow traffic and increase profitability.
