SAN JOSE – June 5, 2012 -- With worldwide mobile network traffic expected to increase nearly 18-fold between 2011 and 2016, Cisco today introduced the foundation for a new generation of mobile Internet networks: the Cisco® ASR 5500 platform.

The new Cisco ASR 5500 system extends the industry-leading Cisco ASR 5000 Series and delivers the agility and scale that service providers need to meet the evolving mobile requirements of their customers. As the industry's first elastic solution for mobile networks, the new Cisco ASR 5500 platform was designed to capitalize on breakthroughs in software architecture optimized on new, purpose-built hardware. These design characteristics address three multi-dimensional challenges known as the "new normal," which are:

Dramatic growth of mobile lifestyle devices – consumers are buying sophisticated and powerful Internet-enabled devices for use at home, on the road, and at work given the bring-your-own-device or BYOD movement.
Increased usage of next-generation applications – explosive growth in applications by users, always-on applications and those that continually interact with the network.
Rise of the "Internet of things" – also known as machine-to-machine or M2M, whereby machines like smart meters and sensors use the mobile network.

The result is nearly 19 billion mobile and fixed connections to the Internet by 2016, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast (2011 to 2016). Each connection has its own specific requirements, based on device type and application used, that must be met to deliver a superior and personalized mobile experience "your way."

Product Highlights/Key Facts

The Cisco ASR 5500 system delivers unprecedented levels of performance and elasticity to help service providers with the following unique capabilities and features:

The industry's only elastic packet core solution capable of integrating signaling, data, in-line services, and policy and charging control within a single platform.
A 10-times performance improvement in throughput, capable of scaling from hundreds of gigabits to a terabit platform.
The only solution capable of auto-sizing existing network resources to address dramatic variations in network behavior:

o Access (3G, 4G and Wi-Fi); and

o User sessions, transactions, signaling, and data throughput.

Cisco's elastic mobile architecture allows applications to intelligently and elastically scale up or down to meet processing requirements. This gives service providers the unique ability to adjust resources and adapt to multiple conditions and network usage patterns, resulting in improved network economics, saving customers up to 47 percent of the total cost of ownership, according to a study issued by ACG Research.
Proven software platform shared across the Cisco ASR 5000 Series, minimizing operational complexities and accelerating time-to-market.
The new Cisco ASR 5500 is available now.

To power next-generation 3G, 4G, 4G long-term evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi mobile services, Cisco has deployed the Cisco ASR 5000 series with several leading global service providers including Bharti Airtel, Telekom Austria Group and Verizon Wireless.

Supporting Quotes

Michael Kennedy, principal analyst, ACG Research

"Change in the use of mobile networks is challenging network architects to build flexibility and elasticity into the mobile multimedia core in order to control its cost. Our analysis of the Cisco ASR 5500 multimedia core solution compared to a leading competitor's solution finds that TCO savings are up to 47 percent lower than the competitor. The savings are attributable to the Cisco ASR 5500's scale and integrated functionality that requires up to 65 percent fewer installed units."

Peter Jarich, service director, Current Analysis

"With LTE deployments ramping up, many vendors have been talking up their mobile packet core expertise and preparing their next-gen platforms. Cisco's focus on elasticity, combined with the proven performance of its software and the scalability improvements of the Cisco ASR 5500 yield a compelling product that's commercially available today."

Jagbir Singh, director, Network Services Group, Bharti Airtel

"As we are transforming our network in order to cater to increasing demand for data services, we wanted a product that was scalable, reliable and one that could adapt to varying requirements and technology needs of our customers. As part of our packet core modernization we have chosen Cisco's ASR 5000 series and have been very satisfied with its stability, scalability and integration across various technologies."

Wolfgang Fleischer, group director, Core-Service Network, Group CTO Area, Telekom Austria Group

"At Telekom Austria Group we see our Cisco mobile core network infrastructure as key enabler for advanced 4G LTE services. With the Cisco ASR 5000 Series as the evolved packet core, we can develop and deploy mobile services quickly, reliably and cost-effectively. We are excited that Cisco is enhancing its ASR 5000 Series with increased performance, scalability and elasticity."

Tom Sawanobori, vice president, Network Planning, Verizon

"Verizon Wireless has been at the forefront of 4G LTE with the largest global deployment to date. Our tradition of innovation and leading advancements in mobility is supported through our relationship with Cisco. The Cisco ASR 5500 platform will help serve our needs for scalability and agility in service deployment models addressing consumer and enterprise markets."

Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile Internet Technology Group, Cisco

"By 2016, more people will access the Internet from mobile devices than from desktops. Through the leading technology and services of the Cisco ASR 5000 Series and its newest member, the Cisco ASR 5500, Cisco uniquely offers service providers the opportunity to not only keep up with this surging demands from their customers in the ‘new normal,' but also to enable their ability to grow profitability, to provide new differentiated services and to maximize the return on their existing investments so that they can thrive in the ever-evolving mobile landscape."

Editor's and Blogger's Notes

At 7:00 a.m. (PDT) / 10:00 a.m. (EDT) / 3:00 p.m. (GMT) today, Cisco will host an invitation-only news conference for journalists, bloggers and industry analysts to discuss this announcement. Cisco executives Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president and general manager of the Mobile Internet Technology Group, and Murali Nemani, senior director of service provider marketing, will be present and take questions from the audience.
To register for the Cisco news conference, send an email to #NACiscoSPinf@text100.com. Once you are registered, an email will be sent with the log-in details.
At 8:00 a.m. (PDT) today, Cisco will host a public webcast where you'll hear from Cisco, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone executives and other industry thought leaders on the innovations enabled by the "new normal." To register, go to: The New Normal – How Mobility Is Changing the Way You Live, Work, Play, and Learn

Embedded YouTube Videos

Watch: "History's Greatest Mysteries Traced to Mobile Network Issues"
Watch: "Introduction of Cisco ASR 5500"

Supporting Resources

Cisco
Cisco ASR 5500
Cisco ASR 5000 Series
Cisco Visual Networking Index
Cisco Mobility: Enabling mobile experience, your way
Information on Cisco Service Provider products and technologies
For more information about Cisco's service provider news and activities visit the SP360 Blog or follow us on Twitter @CiscoSPMobility or hashtag #thenewnorm or SP360 SlideShare
Subscribe to Cisco's SP360 feed

Keywords: Cisco, Aggregation Services Router, ASR, ASR 5500, ASR 5000 Series, Routing, Router, Service Providers, Mobile Internet, Mobile Video, Mobile Data, Visual Networking Index, VNI, Mobile VNI, Elasticity, Elastic Services, New Normal, Kelly Ahuja, BYOD, M2M, ACG Research, Current Analysis, Bharti Airtel, Telekom Austria Group, Verizon Wireless

RSS feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com

# # #

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.