San Jose, Calif. and East Wenatchee, Wash. - March 18, 2002 - Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet), a regional not-for-profit, open access transport provider, today announced it has selected optical networking equipment from Cisco Systems, Inc. to bring high-speed telecommunications facilities to utility companies in the Pacific Northwest delivering affordable, advanced communications services to underserved rural markets. With fiber optic cables licensed from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and other sources, NoaNet employs solutions from the Cisco Complete Optical Multiservice Edge and Transport (COMET) optical product portfolio to expand capabilities, capacity, and services.

Utilizing dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology with the Cisco ONS 15808 Long-Haul/Extended Long-Haul DWDM System, NoaNet is able to maximize a limited quantity of fiber strands. The long-haul capabilities of the ONS 15808 also allow NoaNet to cost-effectively meet the distance requirements of its network. Additionally, with an ONS 15808 network NoaNet will be able to minimize collocation sites, providing more efficient use of fiber and reducing the overall physical network footprint.

"NoaNet has the vision and commitment to bring advanced and affordable networking technologies to the communities and rural areas of the Pacific Northwest, and a cost-effective solution is critical for meeting our goals," said Rob Kopp, Chief Technology Officer, NoaNet. "The flexibility and scalability provided by Cisco COMET solutions such as the ONS 15808 have allowed NoaNet to design an optical infrastructure that maximizes our fiber plant resources while conserving both operational and capital expenditures."

In addition to the ONS 15808 selected for its long-haul networks, NoaNet has implemented a North Loop in the State of Washington using the market-leading ONS 15454 SONET Multiservice Platform. The multiservice capabilities of the ONS 15454 will enable NoaNet to cost-effectively extend its current TDM, Ethernet and MPLS-enabled IP services into Oregon as well.

NoaNet's solution also includes Cisco Transport Manager, the single integrated optical element management system for the entire Cisco ONS 15000 series optical networking products. With Cisco Transport Manager NoaNet is able to reduce provisioning time to speed service velocity and reduce OAM&P (operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning) costs.

"We are pleased NoaNet has selected the Cisco COMET portfolio to bring advanced telecommunications services to new markets efficiently and cost-effectively," said Jeff Santos, Senior Director of Marketing, Photonics, Cisco Systems. "Products like the ONS 15808 provide unique advantages to service providers who are eager to keep cost down while maximizing resources and evolving their networks to keep pace with customer demand for high-value services."

NoaNet is a designated Cisco Powered Network provider. The Cisco Powered Network accreditation signifies that NoaNet provides transport services using Cisco's high performance, robust, and scalable networking solutions such as those from the Cisco COMET portfolio. The Cisco COMET product line offers maximum service velocity, density, variety, and capacity, building the foundation to accelerate IP+Optical networking.