ANGA Cable 2006, COLOGNE, Germany, May 30, 2006 -- Cisco Systems announced today that Flemish cable operator Interkabel has chosen Cisco Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) technology to upgrade its cable network to provide interactive broadband services and multimedia applications such as IP television and video surveillance. The improvements will result in a hundred-fold increase in available bandwidth and will also help enable Interkabel to more quickly and efficiently deliver new services to its customers.

"Toward the end of 2004, we were the first provider to launch a digital television package in Flanders," said Rudy Nys, spokesman for Interkabel. "Because we are looking to further our pioneering role in this field, we are investing in a future-proof network capable of supporting next-generation broadband services, such as IP television, via cable".

Interkabel is made up of four cable companies: Integan, Interelecra, PBE and WBEM. Together they account for a third of the Flemish cable market, with some 790,000 households served. Interkabel's new ultra-high-speed digital services will be provided to its consumer customers and local government customers, as well as being deployed throughout Interkabel's internal departments.

Interkabel's network upgrade includes Cisco uBR10012 Universal Broadband Routers, which will serve as the digital data backbone for the network. Interkabel will also be deploying Cisco aggregation switches and the Cisco Broadband Access Center for Cable provisioning system. The installation is being performed by systems integrator and Cisco Gold Certified Partner Dimension Data. Interkabel expects the project to be completed by the end of this year.

"It's an appropriate illustration of Interkabel's pioneering spirit that Interkabel will be one of the first European users of Cisco's new wideband protocol for DOCSIS® technology, a forerunner of the EuroDOCSIS 3.0 standard," said Luc Vanbecelaere, service provider business development manager for Cisco Systems Belgium. "This technology makes speeds in excess of 600 Mbps to a single household possible. In concrete terms, that means 100 times the current bandwidth. This enormous increase in bandwidth will help Interkabel to provide a range of new and exciting broadband services."