SAN JOSE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 8, 2007 -- Cisco® (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced two
significant innovations to its Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network
(IP NGN) architecture: a Mobile Transport over Pseudowires (MToP) solution
and an enhanced Cisco Content Services Gateway.
These Cisco IP NGN innovations will enable mobile service providers to
dramatically improve traffic backhaul, ease second-generation (2G),
third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) service convergence, and
manage content access and billing more efficiently -- while offering
greater mobile user personalization capabilities. Both innovations are
designed for providers using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Global
System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies.
Mobile Transport over Pseudowires (MToP)
The new Cisco Mobile Transport over Pseudowires (MToP) solution extends
Cisco IP network intelligence from a mobile service provider's core to edge
aggregation sites via circuit-emulation-over-packet shared port adapters
(SPAs) for the Cisco 7600 Series Routers. Two models of circuit-emulation
SPAs are available: the one-port channel OC-3/STM-1 and the 24-port
T1/E1/J1. This solution ensures scalable support for 2G, 3G and 4G
services and applications.
Mobile service providers face the dual challenge of reducing operational
and equipment expenses while adding capacity to radio access networks
(RANs) to support advanced data and video services. Users now demand
access to voice, data and video and applications at anytime, from anywhere,
to any mobile device.
The most common implementation for RAN backhaul relies on a network of
dedicated time-division multiplexing (TDM) and asynchronous transfer mode
(ATM) circuits. Although this works well for basic voice and data
services, mobile service users' demands for video downloading and other
media-rich applications are forcing mobile services providers to invest in
additional capacity.
Mobile service providers such as Wataniya Telecom of Kuwait are facing
increasing cost pressures as they scale these TDM circuits. By moving to
circuit emulation to carry TDM traffic directly over converged IP
Multiprotocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) and Ethernet networks, they can
achieve the cost savings and flexibility of Ethernet while preserving the
critical clocking signal required for seamless handoffs as users move
between aggregation sites.
By using its IP-based network -- consisting of Cisco 7600 and 12000 Series
Routers -- Wataniya Telecom has several business objectives. These include
making it easier and less costly to provide bandwidth in the network while
improving network architectural flexibility. Aggregation sites can be
connected to radio network controllers or mobile switching centers based on
available capacity using standards-based MPLS pseudowires, not on
geographic location.
"Our network continues to grow quickly, driven by the demand among
customers to stay connected via reliable, fast and secured means while at
work, at home or on the go," said Harri Koponen, general manager and CEO of
Wataniya Telecom. "By using our converged Internet Protocol network,
enabled by the Cisco IP NGN architecture, to transport radio access traffic
ultimately means that we can provide innovative services without frequent
upgrades."
"Wataniya Telecom is at the forefront of advanced service delivery for the
'Connected Life on the Move.' It provides mobile users with consistent
experiences, no matter what device they are using," said Larry Lang, vice
president and general manager, Cisco Mobile Wireless Group. "By
incorporating Cisco Mobile Transport over Pseudowires and content billing
technologies directly into its most advanced and highest-capacity routers,
Cisco has provided the flexibility, scalability, ease of installation and
management necessary to maximize the return on network investments."
Isocore, an Internet and wireless networking technology validation
organization, also supports the notion of extending MPLS core capabilities
into a mobile service providers' RAN.
"Circuit emulation over Internet Protocol is a cost-effective technology to
propel the network convergence and, in particular, address the increasing
data traffic in wireless carriers' networks," said Dr. Bijan Jabbari,
president of Isocore. "We believe that the traditional time-division
multiplexed circuits that require synchronization can be transported over a
packet-based network, thus allowing service providers to handle the
convergence of voice, video, data and mobility services."
Enhanced Cisco Content Services Gateway
As providers build and optimize their infrastructure to meet the exploding
demand for mobile data services, they are looking to drive profitability
with value-added content and services. As part of the Cisco Service
Exchange Framework (SEF), the Cisco Content Services Gateway 2nd Generation
(CSG2) provides intelligent service control and enablement at the edge of
the mobile internet.
The Cisco CSG2 platform delivers an industry-leading solution for mobile
content billing, content filtering, service control, traffic analysis, and
data mining in a highly scalable, fault-tolerant package. Used by mobile
service providers around the world, the Cisco CSG2 system provides two
major new functions that providers need to manage and monetize mobile
content services:
-- Dynamic mobile content examination and access control -- which enables
mobile service providers to meet the needs of customers for parental
control, satisfy corporate usage policies, and comply with social and
regulatory requirements; and
-- Flexible, application-aware billing -- which enables providers to
offer differentiated charges for services by volume, duration, byte, event
and other parameters.
The Cisco CSG2 platform is deployed on a next-generation Cisco 7600 line
card provides enhanced processing power and memory capacity. A single
Cisco CSG2 system can simultaneously manage several hundreds of thousands
of active mobile users, process more than a million concurrent sessions per
second, and manage several gigabits per second of bandwidth.
The Cisco CSG2 platform is the ideal content billing solution for providers
seeking to apply advanced processing of IP flows through dynamic
application-layer content examination, subscriber service access control,
subscriber account balance enforcement, and content filtering. An important
component of the SEF service control layer of the Cisco IP NGN
architecture, the Cisco CSG2 system is an open platform that readily
interfaces with the control elements in a mobile network, including
multiple RANs, back-end billing systems, and content filtering and
compression solutions.
"Mobility growth continues at a strong pace and Cisco's new offers promise
important benefits for operators," said Ken Rehbehn, telecom infrastructure
research director at Current Analysis. "Economics matter, and Cisco's MToP
delivers important efficiencies made possible by new Circuit over Packet
technologies while the company's enhanced CSG2 platform helps operators
leverage new billing models to wrest more revenue from new data services."
Product Pricing and Availability
The Cisco MToP circuit emulation SPAs are available starting in March 2007
at $20,000 USD. The Cisco CSG2 platform is also available starting in
March 2007 at a list price ranging from $55,000 to $245,000 USD depending
on the level of functionality needed.
For more information on Cisco MToP and CSG2 systems, visit Cisco booth B46
in Hall 8 at the 3GSM World Congress (Feb. 12-15, 2007) in Barcelona,
Spain, or click the following URL: www.cisco.com/go/mobile.
About Cisco Systems
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, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document 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. This document is Cisco
Public Information.
For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the
following link:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/podcasts/rss.html
Contact Information: Press Contact:
Kevin Petschow
Cisco
408 527-4743
kpetscho@cisco.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Liz Lemon
Cisco
408 527-8452
lemon@cisco.com
Industry Analyst Contact
Carter Cromwell
Cisco
408 526-6914
ccromwel@cisco.com