SAN JOSE, Calif., July 30, 2002 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced that Essent Kabelcom has selected Cisco as its primary provider of Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS). Essent Kabelcom chose the Cisco uBR10012 and Cisco uBR7246VXR Universal Broadband Routers for two-way interactive services via its cable network across the Netherlands. As part of its service rollout, Essent Kabelcom will now be able to offer residential and commercial subscribers high-speed data, voice-over-IP (VoIP), auto-provisioning and multiple ISP services over a Cisco advanced, standards-based cable IP network solution.

Essent Kabelcom's current network was based on a proprietary architecture. By moving to a globally accepted standard, Essent will be able to better manage capital expenditures, accelerate deployment of the network systems and improve the quality of new services. Both Cisco Universal Broadband Routers are DOCSIS 1.1 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) and EuroDOCSIS 1.0 qualified and are capable of delivering advanced services such as VoIP and scaling to support rapid expansion of service offerings.

"Delivering new services, improving the quality of service to subscribers and minimizing additional operational costs to existing and new customers is critical to our long term success and growth," said Bert Meijerink, Director of Operations at Essent Kabelcom. "During our thorough evaluation process, the Cisco products performed exceptionally. The combination of Cisco carrier-class product performance and seamless, standards-based, end-to-end network capability enables us to scale and support these services to meet and exceed our subscriber expectation and our operational and revenue objectives."

"Essent Kabelcom's decision to launch a cable IP network showcases the increasing demand for and potential of cable IP networks," said Carson Chen, vice president and general manager of Cisco's cable business unit. "Essent has more or less 2 million subscribers in Europe and is building a cutting-edge network with the ability to deliver advanced communications and entertainment services. This project is a significant milestone for Essent Kabelcom and the marketplace and Cisco is proud to have been chosen to be part of it."

For more information about Cisco uBR7200 Series and uBR10012 Universal Broadband Routers please visit: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/44/jump/cable.shtml