C-Scape 2007

Cisco’s CRS-1 Captures AT&T’s Global IP Core Network

| Dec 12, 2007 | Carrier Infrastructure | Competitive Intelligence Report

| Analyst: Glen Hunt

Current Perspective: Positive
Vendor Importance: High
Market Impact: High

Event Summary

On December 10th Cisco announced that AT&T has selected its Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) as the core platform of its global IP/MPLS backbone network. The AT&T network delivers voice, video, data, and mobility services to residential and business customers worldwide. CRS-1 attributes such as high availability and scalability were extremely important factors in the decision to deploy the platform.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Cisco’s announcement that AT&T has chosen its flagship Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) to satisfy the needs of AT&T’s global IP/MPLS backbone network, because the CRS-1 will be used to deliver voice, video, data, and mobility services to residential and business customers worldwide, including services such as DSL and U-verse. AT&T has over a dozen core sites that will leverage the various models of the CRS-1, ranging from the single chassis to the multi-chassis version depending upon the throughput requirements of the various PoPs.

• Vendor Importance: High to Cisco, since the selection points to another service provider that has decided to deploy the CRS-1 to meet its IP core routing needs. Although certainly not a greenfield network, AT&T needed to select a new supplier for its core routing needs, especially given Avici Networks’ decision to withdraw from the space to focus on its Soapstone initiatives. The AT&T contract represents a significant win with a Tier-1 provider that is experiencing significant growth in IP service delivery. The selection comes after a comprehensive test and trial period to validate the high-availability and scalability features offered by the platform.

• Market Impact: High on the IP core routing market segment, since the deployment represents a network upgrade from an existing Cisco customer. An AT&T spokesperson noted that high availability and scalability were extremely important to support its customer base as service portfolios grow. AT&T was one of several service providers whose capacity requirements exceeded the capabilities of a single chassis, indicating that the scalability of the CRS-1 will be a significant factor that could be leveraged to support the growing throughput needs, which according to an AT&T spokesperson have nearly doubled this past year.

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Current Perspective

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