MARCH 9, 2010, 2:35 P.M. ET Cisco Unveils Faster Internet Router
By ROGER CHENG Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575111571948500564.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_technology Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled a heavy-duty router for managing Internet traffic, as it seeks to regain market share it has lost in the arms race to manage telecommunications networks. Cisco said Tuesday its new CRS-3 router has 12 times the capacity of rival equipment. For example, executives said the device can handle simultaneous video calls for every person in China. The router, which is used by telecom carriers to power the Internet backbone, replaces the company's aging CRS-1, which was introduced in 2004. Cisco competes in the core router market with Juniper Networks Inc., which has updated its products more recently than Cisco. AT&T Inc., a key Cisco customer, said Tuesday it completed a trial with the router, which allowed its long-distance Internet backbone to carry data traffic at 100 gigabits per second, or roughly 10,000 times faster than the average household cable or DSL connection. Consumers won't see those kinds of speeds because the router has to serve many people. But Cisco said the CRS-3 can deliver a connection of 1 gigabit per second to nearly every home in San Francisco. Chief Executive John Chambers said the new router provided more than just a boost. The product is supposed to be "smarter" allowing it to direct traffic based on the priority of the data. "It's about flexibility," Mr. Chambers said. "It's not just about raw speed." The San Jose technology stalwart let an unusually large amount of hype build around the announcement, claiming that it would give "change the Internet forever." A countdown clock ticked off the time before the company unveiled the details. Cisco shares, which have risen 9% over the past two weeks and hit a 52-week high on Monday amid the speculation, fell 1% on the news. Some see Cisco's plans as an answer to Google Inc.'s own push to deliver an ultrafast Internet connection directly to consumers. Last month the Internet search giant shook up the service provider industry with its own plans to build its own high-speed network in select communities. Cisco, which is heavily dependent on the service providers for revenue, needed to show its support for its customers, analysts say. At Tuesday's event, Mr. Chambers said his company will never compete with service providers. The moves come ahead of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan, which is expected to call for up to $25 billion in new federal spending for high-speed Internet lines, a wireless network for public safety groups and expanded access of affordable service. The plan is expected to be released later this month. AT&T, meanwhile, said the 100-gigabit backbone Internet network would support growing wireless and wired data and traffic "for years to come." In particular, AT&T has dealt with the explosive growth in wireless data, primarily driven by the Apple Inc. iPhone, among other smar tphones. The router "allows us to serve volumes of traffic that we need to serve," said Keith Cambron, CEO of AT&T Labs. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
