CHENNAI, India November 11, 2003 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that Dishnet, India's premier Internet service provider (ISP), has chosen Cisco® networking equipment to increase Dishnet's bandwidth capacity to 622 Mbps outside India as a means to offer new services, such as videoconferencing, to customers throughout India and Asia at substantially lower prices.
With its new application initiative of offering voice and video services, which require higher bandwidth, Dishnet is discontinuing satellite network operations. Instead, the Cisco 12000 Series routers, deployed by Dishnet in Chennai, will intelligently manage traffic between four STM-1 (155 Mbps each) links from Network i2i Ltd., a joint venture between Singtel and Bharti i2i Ltd. and in-country bandwidth from Bharti Telecom. This configuration will enable Dishnet to provide higher access speeds to its customers at substantially lower costs.
V. Srinivasan, CEO of Dishnet, said, "Dishnet is in the process of enhancing its network and extending its reach to provide higher-speed Internet access to customers. As a part of this expansion, we were looking for a solution that would not only protect our existing technology investment, but also facilitate video and voice traffic. Cisco demonstrated that they not only had the solution to fit our needs but also had the capability to provide us with ongoing support. The fact that Cisco had provided the equipment for similar existing deployments in India and had spares availability in-country only strengthened their proposition further."
Rangu Salgame, President, India & SAARC, Cisco Systems said, "Dishnet is one of India's most innovative and forward-looking ISPs and Cisco is proud to team with it. Dishnet's selection further consolidates Cisco's leadership in the Indian service provider market. It reflects the complete trust that ISPs have in our products and we are confident that we will be able to build on this as the networking market in India grows rapidly."
About the Cisco 12000 Series The Cisco 12000 Series is the only solution that meets service provider requirements for service delivery, manageability, core and edge adaptability, reliability, and lowest total cost of ownership while building a carrier-class IP/MPLS network.
For more information about Cisco 12000 Series routers, visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/12000/
