Cisco Lands Comcast For ‘Huge, Fast Router’

Cisco today notched its highest-profile customer yet for
its Carrier Routing System (CRS-1).

The San Jose, Calif., network equipment giant said Comcast will use CRS-1 to deliver video, high-speed Internet access
and other IP services.

Cisco, which competes with Juniper and others, will also
provide training under its deal with the nation’s largest cable and
broadband provider.

CRS-1, which boasts speeds of up to 92 terabits per second, was introduced
in March 2004 as part of Cisco’s 20th anniversary celebration. During the
R&D period, it was code-named HFR for “Huge Fast Router.”

Since its launch, the company has landed 28 customers for the CRS-1,
including Cable & Wireless, China Telecom and Telstra, Wilson Craig, a
Cisco spokesman, told internetnews.com. Another 13 trials are under way,
he said.

Comcast chose the CRS-1 because it will provide “continuous system
operation, overall network functionality, service flexibility and
integrated optical scalability,” David M. Fellows, executive vice president
and CTO of Comcast Cable, said in a statement.

Comcast provides cable and broadband services to more than 21 million
customers in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Installation time varies for
CRS-1 customers, Craig said, and financial terms of the sale were not
disclosed.

In related news, Philadelphia-based Comcast said it will form an Open
Transport Initiative (OTI) to improve the interoperability among multiple
vendors’ equipment within Comcast’s network.

Cisco and Nortel , which supplies Comcast with optical
networking products, are the first vendors in this initiative.

The OTI will identify and define a set of common interfaces, which will be
used to integrate and manage Nortel’s dense wavelength division
multiplexing platforms and Cisco IP equipment, Comcast said.

“This collaboration is a natural and much-needed step in the evolution of
network technology and the interoperability of multi-vendor networks,”
Comcast’s Fellows said in a statement.

For their part, Nortel and Cisco will promote the adoption of the common
interfaces as open-industry standards through standards bodies.