Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System Advances Next-Generation Internet With Rapid Global Expansion, New Capabilities

80 Service Providers Worldwide Deploying CRS-3 as Network Foundation;
Customer Shipments Total More Than 7.5 Petabits of Core Bandwidth Capacity

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 11, 2011 – Cisco today announced that just one year after it was introduced, the industry-leading Cisco® CRS-3 Carrier Routing System is being adopted faster than the original CRS-1 platform, with 80 customers in more than 30 countries. Further, Cisco is announcing new capabilities on the CRS-3 platform that will expand its addressable market while reducing the cost for service providers to deliver packet-transport services.

The Cisco CRS-3 was designed to transform the broadband communications and entertainment industry by accelerating the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace. Cisco’s cumulative investment in the Cisco CRS Family is $1.72 billion, further underscoring the company’s commitment to Internet networking leadership and enabling new services and applications for service providers while optimizing costs.

Overview

• Unmatched Market Momentum – In less than one year, Cisco has shipped CRS-3 units to more than 80 global service providers in more than 30 countries. Since 2004, Cisco CRS units have been shipped to more than 450 service providers in more than 80 countries, on every continent in the world except Antarctica. To date, Cisco has shipped 7.5 petabits per second* of core bandwidth capacity to these CRS platform customers, enough core bandwidth to support a basic video conference call with every person on earth simultaneously.
• Introducing Flexible Packet Transport for New Market Opportunities – The Cisco CRS-3 flexible packet-transport capability is a form of label switching enabled with the addition of a blade to the Cisco CRS platform. This capability scales the core network economically with fast switching, providing a high-speed, agile transport backbone that enables carriers to address this new market opportunity. The extension of the Cisco CRS-3 broadens the platform’s reach into new markets while protecting service providers’ current investments in the core. It also complements the Cisco Carrier-Grade IPv6   functionality and data center capabilities like Network Positioning System (NPS), cloud VPN, and classical Internet Protocol/Multiprotocol Label Switching routing.
• Significant Savings With a Single Cisco CRS-3 Platform – Because the flexible packet-transport capability does not require a new standalone product to be deployed in a network, operators can easily add the capability to existing CRS-3 networks without expensive, time-consuming qualification testing. Competitive solutions require three platforms to deliver the same functionality as the Cisco CRS-3, which lowers the total cost of ownership for capital expenses by over 40 percent (source: ACG Research white paper).

* Editorial note: 7.5 petabits is enough bandwidth to download every movie ever made in under 10 seconds; or download the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in less than a tenth of a second; or support the entire world population listening to five simultaneous music streams of their choice.

Supporting Quotes

• Ray Mota, managing partner, ACG Research

“The IP core market is expected to continue growing a healthy 11.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years, and these additional packet transport capabilities further expand this market ($4.2 billion by 2016) and position the Cisco CRS-3 as a platform to support the demands of the next-generation Internet. Delivering this functionality in a single platform is very attractive to service providers, as it helps lower the total cost of ownership for capex by 44%, reduces complexity and accelerates service velocity.”

• John Donovan, chief technology officer, AT&T

“We are very pleased to have worked with Cisco on a successful standards-based 100 gigabit (100 G) deployment in a live production network. We are entering the next stage of global communication and entertainment services and applications, which requires a new set of advanced Internet networking technologies, and Cisco’s groundbreaking CRS-3 platform is advancing those technologies.”

• Pankaj Patel, senior vice president and general manager, Service Provider Business, Cisco

“Simply put, the CRS-3 was designed with the future in mind. The strong market response to the CRS-3 validates our belief that this platform is the foundation for the next-generation Internet. Unlike competitive offerings that require refreshers, upgrades or even full replacements within just a few years, the Cisco CRS platform was designed to seamlessly accommodate the extraordinary growth of video traffic, mobile devices and new online services through this decade and beyond, delivering unprecedented investment protection.”

• Kevin McElearney, senior vice president of network engineering, Comcast

“Since introduced, we have been very impressed with the CRS platform. Comcast’s backbone and metro networks are 100G production ready today with live 100G optics carrying customer traffic. The CRS-3 brings true 100G into the IP packet layer this year for Comcast allowing more network efficiencies for our next generation converged services.”

Supporting Resources:

• Cisco CRS-3 Carrier-Routing System
• ACG Research white paper on Core Packet Transport
• Cisco service provider solutions
• CRS-3 photographs
• Learn more about the expected rise in IP Traffic worldwide from the Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2010–2015
• 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.

Tags / Keywords: Cisco, 100G, 100 Gigabit Ethernet, Cisco CRS, Cisco CRS-1, Cisco CRS-3, Carrier Routing System, Core Router, multi-chassis, Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network, IP NGN, Pankaj Patel

About Cisco

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

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