Main One Cable Chooses Cisco to Take Broadband Capacity in West Africa to the Next Level

West African Optic Fiber Cable Company Deploys Cisco CRS-3 Platform and ASR 9000 Series Routers for Enhanced Capacity, High Resiliency, and Robust IPv6 Support

LAGOS, Nigeria, 03 March 2011 – Cisco announced today that Main One Cable Company the first privately owned submarine network cable company in West Africa, will be deploying Cisco’s Internet Protocol Next- Generation Network (IP NGN) solution to take broadband capacity in West Africa to the next level. The platform will provide a strong foundation for meeting Main One’s present and future business services requirements.

Demand for highly secure, high-bandwidth network capacity from government and global enterprise customers is driving Main One to deploy its new network. Working with Cisco, Main One will develop high-quality IP-based network and application service offerings to create an efficient content-delivery highway to private and public communications networks in West Africa. Customers will benefit from various value-added services enabled by IP technology, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), voice over IP (VOIP), IPTV and advanced collaboration technologies. Also, the Main One network will provide its customers with the flexibility of being able to purchase bandwidth in smaller increments, further enabling broadband penetration within West Africa. Integral to meeting these customer requirements will be the deployment of the Cisco® CRS-3 Carrier Routing System and ASR 9000 Series routers for enhanced capacity, high resiliency, and robust IPv6 support.

Highlights / Key Facts

• In July 2010, Main One switched on its 7,000-kilometer submarine fiber optic cable system linking West Africa to Europe. The cable, which has landing stations in Nigeria and Ghana and branching units in Morocco, the Canary Islands, Senegal and Ivory Coast, delivers an unprecedented broadband capacity of 1,920 gigabits per second to West Africa, more than ten times what was available.
• With more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, the Cisco CRS-3 is designed to transform the broadband communication and entertainment industry by accelerating the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for Main One, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace. IP NGN is an important element in supporting delivery of high-quality, rich-media Internet services.
• The Cisco IP NGN platform is scalable, thereby empowering Main One to address anticipated growth in Internet traffic and demand for Internet-based video services from IPTV to TelePresence. In addition to the increased capacity, the data center and cloud-computing intelligence embedded in the Cisco CRS-3 which uses the Network Positioning System (NPS), directs requests to data centers with available capacity. It will also support cloud-based VPNs.
• Main One has worked with Cisco Advanced Services to install and deploy the CRS-3 and ASR 9000 routers. This accelerated build-out of the IP NGN allows Main One Cable to fulfill and enhance the customer experience more quickly.
• The annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast, 2009-2014  projects that consumer broadband usage and global IP NGN traffic will continue to climb significantly due to the new forms and expanded usage of interactive media and the explosion of video content across multiple devices. IP traffic in the Middle East and Africa will reach 1 exabyte per month by 2014 at a rate of 45 percent. Monthly Internet traffic in the Middle East and Africa will generate 182 million DVDs’ worth of traffic, or 727 petabytes per month. Business IP traffic will also grow fastest in the Middle East and Africa.

Executive Quotes:

• Funke Opeke, CEO, Main One

“Main One is set to deliver a state-of-the-art IP Next-Generation Network platform to accelerate the deployment of broadband in West Africa. The market is demanding far more sophisticated services, and we have chosen to work with Cisco to deliver its latest and most innovative technology solutions that will help Main One develop its customer offerings and stay ahead of the game.”

• Paul Mountford, president, Emerging Markets, Cisco

“The deployment of new technology solutions can now be increased significantly throughout the sub-Saharan African region as Cisco and Main One join forces to develop a state-of-the-art IP network. Cisco’s vision is to be the leading enabler of ICT and broadband acceleration in Africa through innovative, scalable, high-value technology offerings and solutions. Main One’s high-capacity fibre optic cable will help this vision become a reality.”

Links / URLs:

• For more information about Cisco IP NGN visit: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns537/networking_solutions_solution_category.html#~overview
• Emerging Markets RSS Feed: http://newsroom.cisco.com/data/syndication/rss2/EmergingMarkets.xml
• News@Cisco in Africa: http://newsroom.cisco.com/africa
• Sales Inquiries from Main One Cable: sales@mainonecable.com
• Main One Cable IP Related Inquiries: ipteam@mainonecable.com
• RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

About Main One Cable Company

MainOne is wholly African and is the first privately owned submarine network cable in West Africa with initial landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Portugal. A landmark achievement, Main One delivered its cable system on time and within budget, a rare occurrence with projects of this magnitude and complexity.  For more details visit: http://mainonecable.com/index.php

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 equipment in emerging markets is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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