IBC2005, AMSTERDAM - September 9, 2005 - Cisco Systems KK (president: Yasuki Kurosawa; capital: JPY2.22 billion; head office: 2-14-27 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo; Cisco), today announced that SOFTBANK BB Corporation (President and CEO: Masayoshi Son; capital: JPY14.8 billion; head office: 1-9-1 Higashi-shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo; SOFTBANK BB) is expanding its Cisco IP NGN architecture, featuring the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) and Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series switches, to enable nationwide expansion of advanced video services including broadband program broadcasting and video-on-demand (VOD). The nationwide expansion will be completed in October.
SOFTBANK BB is one of Japan's largest broadband service providers, providing Yahoo!BB ADSL services to over 4.93 million users (as of July 2005). Under the Yahoo!BB brand, it offers such services as Internet connectivity using ADSL and optical fiber for access lines, IP telephony, broadcasting services, and online gaming. SOFTBANK BB implemented multicasting technology for video services nationwide as the basis of its BBTV broadcasting service in 2001, establishing itself as a pioneer of multicasting technology in Japan. At present, the service has approximately 5,000 VOD titles and offers programming on 36 channels. Further expansion of video content is planned.
"SOFTBANK BB is a leader not only in the Japanese market but in the service provider industry worldwide through its customer-focused innovation to advance video services," said Mike Volpi, senior vice president and general manager of routing and service provider technology, Cisco. "Customers today understand that they can get what they want when they want it, and demand more of their carriers as a result. Cisco is very pleased to be working closely with providers like SOFTBANK BB to drive growth in video service development and delivery."
To deliver advanced IP video services, SOFTBANK BB has deployed the Cisco CRS-1 core routing platform. Providing continuous operation, modular scale to 92 terabits, and a 40Gbps ASIC enabling flexible QoS and non-blocking multicast transfers, the CRS-1 is the only core routing platform available today that can support SOFTBANK BB's requirement to deliver IP video-based television broadcasting and video on demand (VOD) to millions of customers simultaneously.
"Demand for advanced services in Japan is large and growing rapidly," said Keiichi Makizono, general manager of the Technology Division at SOFTBANK BB. "Our video network must be able to scale to meet the demand, and we must provide its carrier-class attributes like scalability and high availability. Cisco works closely with us to make sure our needs in these areas are met, so we can continue to meet the needs of our growing number of users."
The network also features Cisco Catalyst 6500, and 3750 switches, delivering advanced, fully hardware-enabled IP multicast functionality, unmatched scalability, and extremely fast convergence times for combined unicast/multicast protocols, all of which enable the delivery of advanced IP video services.
Cisco helps services providers overcome the main challenge associated with delivering IP video services - reaching millions of users in a cost effective manner with an enhanced user experience. The Cisco IP NGN reference architecture gives SOFTBANK BB the flexibility, scalability, security and stability it needs to drive rapid growth of its broadband services.
About SOFTBANK BB Corporation
SOFTBANK BB is the largest company in the SOFTBANK Group and was established in January 2003 through the merger of BB Technology Corporation, SOFTBANK Networks Inc., SOFTBANK EC Holdings and SOFTBANK Commerce Corporation. It handles all aspects of broadband services centering on Yahoo! BB, including system development, technological development and sales support. The SOFTBANK Group aims to be the leading corporate group providing a total range of services including telecommunications infrastructure and portals and other content on that infrastructure, creating a richer and more enjoyable lifestyle for the 21st century in which people can easily communicate with anyone at any time in any place.See the following web site for further details and an overview of SOFTBANK BB (http://www.softbankbb.co.jp).
