KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - October 17, 2002 - Cisco Systems is supplying MPLS IP-VPN solutions to VADS Berhad, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia Berhad and a leading managed network service (MNS) provider in the country. The Cisco solutions form the foundation for VADS PREMIER, a fully managed business class IP service.

Among VADS PREMIER customers is AXA Affin Assurance Berhad (AXA Affin), a world leader in financial protection. AXA AFFIN will interconnect its 12 offices in Malaysia and its subsidiary in Brunei with this service.

"To operate successfully in today's competitive climate, companies such as AXA AFFIN need to set high levels of customer satisfaction. The VADS PREMIER service provides AXA AFFIN the ability to communicate more effectively with their customers and agents," said Yusof Ampuan Kechil, Chief Executive Officer of VADS Berhad. "Cisco's MPLS technology, understanding of enterprise requirements as well as its industry-leading IP solutions are fundamental to the success of VADS PREMIER."

VADS PREMIER is built on an end-to-end Cisco powered network with Cisco BPX 8600 WAN switches, Cisco 7200 and 3600 routers. Having a Cisco powered network offers many benefits to service providers including lower operational costs and quicker deployment of new services.

"Businesses today look for service providers who can provide all their networking requirements. These include security, reliability, robustness and the ability to handle integrated data, voice and video on an IP platform. By building a Cisco powered network, VADS is sending out a strong signal to its customers that it can deliver them the network services that they are demanding for," said Bill Chang, Regional Managing Director for ASEAN, Cisco Systems.