OSLO, Norway, April 9th , 2002 - Cisco Systems, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, announced today that Telenor (NASDAQ: TELN), Norway's largest telecommunications provider, is to deploy Europe's largest wireless local area network (LAN) campus, using Cisco's Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID) technology platform, as part of an initiative aimed at helping reduce the company's operational expenses.
The LAN will enable employees to gain secure access to their corporate Intranet and other work resources, without cables or connections, from anywhere in or around Telenor's new Fornebu headquarters. This has been a vital part in developing Telenor's brand new 137,000 sqm headquarters into the foremost workplace for creativity in the Nordic countries, in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard, which has worked closely with Telenor in the design and implementation of IT solutions for the new headquarters.
The AVVID deployment is part of a corporate move that will see around 7,700employees from 40 offices in the greater Oslo area relocating to the brand newFornebu campus, in a major change management project to create the most innovative, stimulating and leading technology workplace in the Nordics. New workplace solutions will enhance the company's creative and innovative capabilities.
Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor's deputy chief executive, said: "We have reached a critical point in our history, where we have the opportunity to harness the latesttechnology to introduce new flexible working practices, develop new services for ourenterprise and small-to-medium business customers and cut our operating costs byseveral million dollars a year. Our aspirations demand a unique technology platform and Cisco's AVVID technology is the only one that could deliver all we need in a single package."
Telenor's IP telephony-enabling AVVID infrastructure is based on Cisco Catalyst. 6500 switches, Cisco CSS 11000 content services switches, Cisco Aironet 350 Series access points, antenna systems and PC cards, Cisco IDS Intrusion Detection Systems, Cisco IP telephony CallManagers and Softphone clients. Cisco's multi-protocol layer switching IP virtual private network (MPLS IP VPN) technology, deployed over Cisco high-end routers for wide area network and Internet connectivity, is central to the network architecture.
Telenor's campus-wide Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is open to all visitors in the buildings and in the plaza area. Utilising the WLAN, visitors can browse the web and read their email. To access the corporate network through the campus-wide Wireless Network, and from the Internet, a solution based on Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology is used. The security of the VPN solution is strengthened by the use of Digital Certificates.
Rob Lloyd, president of Cisco in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: "Telenor's use of AVVID technology for the large-scale deployment of wireless LAN and other services once more demonstrates how our voice, video and integrated data architecture is becoming the platform of choice."
