The FINANCIAL -- Cisco on March 15 announced that Neutral Tandem -- one of the leading providers of tandem interconnection services to wireless, wireline, cable and broadband telephony companies -- has selected the Cisco® ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers to support its new Ethernet eXchange service.

The proliferation of Internet Protocol (IP) to deliver various services, including rich video content, is expected to lead to massive traffic growth, increasing the Internetwork connectivity needs of service providers.  However, a lack of available internetwork connectivity solutions presents a major challenge for Ethernet service providers, often forcing them into complex and time-consuming customized interconnection agreements. 

The addition of Neutral Tandem's Ethernet eXchange fills the void in the Ethernet market by providing Ethernet service providers a more efficient and simplified method of interconnecting on a many-to-many basis.

Highlights/Key Facts

Neutral Tandem is rapidly deploying its Ethernet eXchange offering in key markets across the United State due to the expected significant ramp-up in demand from service providers offering Ethernet services to enterprises, as well as wireless carriers using Ethernet for mobile backhaul to address the dramatic increase in data traffic on mobile broadband networks.

The Cisco ASR 9000 platform, capable of 6.4 terabytes per second, utilizes the modular Cisco IOS® XR software operating system, simplifying network operations for Neutral Tandem while enabling comprehensive system redundancy and network resiliency.

Neutral Tandem believes that deploying Active Network Abstraction (ANA) gives it a competitive advantage, enabling a simple self-service portal to facilitate customer provisioning of Ethernet exchange services and lowering Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) through ANA's end-to-end monitoring and correlation capabilities.  Cisco's multiservice and multi-technology network management system is anticipated to enhance Neutral Tandem's operational efficiency and drive Operations Support Systems (OSS) automation.

The Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast and Methodology, 2008-2013 projects that consumer broadband usage and global IP Next-Generation Network 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.  Global IP traffic is expected to increase fivefold from 2008 to 2013, approaching 56 exabytes per month in 2013, up from approximately 10 exabytes per month in 2008.

Supporting Quotes:

Rian Wren, president and chief executive officer, Neutral Tandem

"We anticipate that our new Ethernet eXchange platform will help service providers accelerate revenue in the rapidly growing Ethernet market.  The Cisco ASR 9000, with its high resiliency and the capability to scale to 100GE, is the ideal foundation of our new service infrastructure.  This platform -- together with our proven experience in interconnecting carriers, IP next-generation backbone network, technical resources and footprint in key metropolitan markets -- will form a winning combination."

Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president and general manager, service provider routing technology group, Cisco

"We are delighted that Neutral Tandem has chosen the Cisco ASR 9000 as the foundation of its Ethernet Exchange business. With Cisco at the edge and core of the network, Neutral Tandem will deliver a service-enabled IP Next-Generation Network that will help them to further its leadership in the wholesale interconnection market."

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