COLOGNE, Germany, July 15, 2002 - Cisco Systems, today announced that NetCologne is deploying the DOCSIS 1.1 qualified Cisco uBR746VXR Universal Broadband Router, Cisco 7500 Internet Routers and Cisco Catalyst® 6000 switches to address increasing demand from cable customers in Germany. NetCologne customers will be able to access a converged cable and high speed Internet Protocol (IP) network giving three combined services, via a single cable: IP telephony services, cable television and high speed Internet access for both residential and business customers.
With the number of cable subscribers steadily growing in Germany, NetCologne's new business objective is to attract a large number of additional customers onto its converged cable IP services network by the end of 2002. This goal will enable NetCologne to respond to the increasing demand for cable and broadband services and to deliver the service to customers efficiently and cost-effectively, both in metropolitan and rural areas of Germany.
The ability to launch multiple services over a single cable IP network rather than multiple separate networks significantly lowers overall costs of operation and improves the ability to manage the quality of those services. In addition it will enable NetCologne to rapidly scale, add services, and accelerate access to revenue streams.
"As we are looking to provide premium services such as cable television, voice over IP and high speed Internet access over our high capacity IP network, Quality of Service (QoS) featured highly in our requirements," said Guido Schwarzfeld, business unit manager for Broadband Communications at NetCologne. "A key factor in our decision was the ability of the uBR7246VXR to support advanced IP multiservice networks. Its DOCSIS 1.1 qualification gave us the assurance that we can classify our premium traffic and guarantee that it will be transported within the strict service level agreement parameters we have set."
NetCologne is deploying the Cisco uBR7246VXR Universal Broadband Router to help enable it deliver the full range of advanced IP services including voice, web access, and e-mail, with service level guarantees over its Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) plant. In addition, consistent QoS policies can be applied which will provide high levels of IP data integrity and help enable NetCologne to address the requirements of sophisticated and demanding residential and commercial subscribers. In the future, NetCologne is planning to implement Voice over IP (VoIP) over its cable network, which will further increase its diverse customer offering.
"Operators are looking for innovative ways to attract and retain customers for broadband and cable TV services," said Paul Gainham, Broadband Product Manager, EMEA at Cisco. "The investment that NetCologne has made in its core IP network and cable headend facilities will help allow it to quickly roll out and bundle these services and provide flexibility in program and service offerings that deliver the highest level of customer value and satisfaction."
Dimension Data, a global network integrator and Cisco Gold Certified Partner, is working closely with NetCologne in providing Cisco network equipment for the project.
