HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, and SAN JOSE, Calif., June 10, 2010 - Cisco announced today that EastLink is deploying Cisco® ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers as the broadband aggregation platform to deliver ultra-high-speed Internet access throughout its Atlantic Canada footprint.

The use of video, collaboration tools and cloud-based services is driving increased adoption of EastLink's faster-service tiers, including its recently announced service offering 100 megabits per second. When completed, the EastLink network will be one of the most advanced, highest-capacity broadband networks in the country to support its growing customer base.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Cisco provided a clear technology Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) road map to meet EastLink's future bandwidth requirements, including 100 Gigabit Ethernet, protecting its infrastructure investment and readying it for future video needs such as 3-D video and advanced business services.
• By deploying the Cisco ASR 9000, EastLink achieves significant reductions in network complexity to help lower the total cost of ownership.
• As a platform for Carrier Ethernet networks, the Cisco ASR 9000 is designed to deliver a per-slot capacity of up to 400 gigabits per second and to scale up to 6.4 terabits per second. It also provides rich-service capabilities, including nonstop video, while maintaining a reduced carbon footprint.
• Initial deployment of the Cisco ASR 9000 will occur in the Atlantic regional centers, which serve EastLink customers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
• EastLink's ASR 9000 deployment complements its existing Cisco optical infrastructure. Cisco's reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, or ROADM, technology, a component of the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP), brings SONET-like manageability to metro dense wavelength-division multiplexing. ROADMs enable EastLink to add, drop or pass through any combination of the available wavelengths by remote control without having to deploy DWDM experts on site to manually configure or adjust node configurations.
• The Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast, 2009-2014, projects that global Internet traffic will increase more than fourfold to 767 exabytes, or more than three-quarters of a zettabyte, by 2014.  This amount is 100 exabytes higher than the projected level in 2013, or an increase that is the equivalent of 10 times all the traffic traversing Internet Protocol networks in 2008.

Supporting Quotes:

• Steve Irvine, vice president, technology, EastLink

"EastLink's strategic investments in state-of-the-art technology and network infrastructure enable us to deliver the fastest Internet services, including our recently announced EastLink 100 Mbps service. We're committed to delivering the highest quality of service to our business and residential customers across our national footprint."

• Mark Kummer, vice president, service provider, Cisco Canada

"The Cisco ASR Family fulfills the performance demands of world-class, IP Next-Generation Network edge routing platforms. EastLink is well-equipped to address the demands of the zettabyte era for its diverse and rapidly expanding customer base."

Cisco now invites you to experience history and explore key movements in data, video and mobility with a new "experience" site - Discovery of Data.  Here you can learn and see how the Cisco ASR 9000 is the leading edge router for the Next Generation Internet.

Supporting Resources:

• EastLink
• Cisco
• Experience History - Cisco Discovery of Data
• Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Website
• Cisco ASR 9000 Series Router
• Telstra Deploys Cisco ASR 9000 Edge Router
• DT and Cisco ASR 9000: Capacity and Capability Enable Advanced Services
• Cisco Delivers the Carrier Ethernet Foundation for the 'Zettabyte Era': The New Cisco Aggregation Services Router 9000
• Keep up with Cisco's news by visiting the company's Platform Blog.
• For more information about Cisco's service provider news and activities visit SP360 or Twitter @CiscoSP360 and @CiscoSPG.
• Subscribe to Cisco's SP360 Feed.

Technorati Tags:

EastLink, Cisco, ASR 9000, Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network, IP NGN, Edge, Carrier Ethernet, VNI, Visual Networking Index

About EastLink

EastLink has more than 1,500 employees providing a range of communications, entertainment, television and advertising services to residential, business and public sector customers in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia.

EastLink has the distinction of being the first cable company in Canada to enter the telephone market, and the first communications and entertainment company in North America to combine cable, Internet and telephone service in a communications and entertainment bundle. EastLink is one of the fastest internet providers in North America.

At EastLink, creativity, ingenuity and innovation are the driving forces behind our great products and services. EastLink has been recognized as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies for the past four years, and its parent company, the Bragg Group, was named Canada's Family Enterprise of the Year for 2009. For more information on EastLink, please visit eastlink.ca.