Cisco Doubles the 10GigE Density of Its ASR 9000 and Adds Two New Tier 1 Customers

| Aug 26, 2009 | Carrier Infrastructure | Competitive Update

| Analyst: Glen Hunt

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

Event Summary

August 25, 2009 -- Cisco announced a doubling of the 10 GigE port density of its flagship Aggregation Services Router 9000 Series. A new single-slot 16 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet line card gives Cisco 10 GigE density in an edge platform to address massive video and mobile Internet traffic growth. Also this week, Cogent and Telstra join Softbank, Telstra and Verizon Wireless creating a group of five Tier 1 service providers opting to deploy Cisco’s high scale ASR 9000.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Cisco’s announcement to double the 10 GigE density of its Aggregation Services Router 9000 (ASR 9000) series because it helps service providers address the growing bandwidth and connectivity requirements of their edge networks as a result of massive increases in video and data traffic. The announcement is the first major update for the new router which was launched in November 2008. In addition, Cisco announced that two additional Tier 1 service providers, Cogent and Telstra, who will be deploying the ASR 9000 in their Ethernet networks – bringing the total number of Tier 1’s using or planning to use the platform to five.

• Vendor Importance: High to Cisco because the ASR 9000 was launched with a significant level of future potential and the company needed to show that it was not just a roadmap product, but that it was committing to an aggressive development schedule to full fill future capacity and feature claims. The new 16 X 10 GigE line card is a representative first step. The addition of two additional Tier 1 service provider deployments indicates that the new platform is resonating with providers to build their next generation video and Ethernet-centric metro networks.

• Market Impact: High on the carrier Ethernet and edge router market segments because the ARS 9000 is beginning to gain market traction among top service providers that are looking to the new platform to help them meet the scale and capacity metrics needed to handle current and future video and data services requirements. The announcement of the new 16 X 10 GigE line card is an example of how the platform can be expanded to deliver on future scale requirements.

CLIENTS ONLY

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

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Recommended Competitor Actions

• Alcatel-Lucent should highlight its platform density, customers, advanced services capabilities, and release its announced 10 X 10 GigE line cards as soon as possible. It should engage a premier service provider customer, such as Telus, to do trials and testing of the higher capacity edge capabilities to demonstrate how its 10 X 10 GigE and 100 GigE interfaces will address their growing edge/metro requirements. Alcatel-Lucent should also point out the advanced services features provided by the 7750 SR/7450 ESS in addition to higher port densities and speeds.

• Juniper should note its MX Series roadmap, which is driven by factors such as increasing video traffic, converged wireless services and emerging trends such as cloud computing. Juniper should provide a roadmap and positioning of its MX Series with respect to greater 10 GigE densities (>64 ports) and any future 100 GigE support at the edge. Juniper should also point out the advanced services features provided by the MX Series in addition to higher port densities and speeds.

• Ericsson should update its positioning with respect to the need to increase interface density and scale of its SmartEdge and SM480 platforms in response to growing market capacity needs. Although the SmartEdge and SM480 are a highly capable multiservice edge and Ethernet services routers respectively, their 10 GigE densities are significantly less than that offered by the ASR 9000. Ericsson should also point out that although its physical port metrics are less, it provides a high level of subscriber support at each port as well as a rich set of service- enabling edge functions.

• Huawei should update its positioning on its next round of interface and capacity upgrades for its CX600 metro Ethernet switch with respect to helping its service provider customers meet the challenges of network growth and service enablement. Huawei should tout its leadership position in industry and standards organizations with respect to the emerging 100/40G technologies and its unified product model for access, IP and optical portfolio.

• Nokia Siemens Networks, which leverages Juniper’s edge, core and metro platforms (M Series, T Series and MX Series), should weigh in on the need to beef up the service provider edge with expanded N X 10 GigE interfaces. NSN should highlight its broad network experience in professional services and network construction for major service providers with regard to how best to deal with the ongoing capacity and subscriber explosion.

• Vendors such as Brocade (XMR/MLX series), Force10 (ExaScale E-Series), and Extreme (BlackDiamond 20808), should evaluate their customers’ need for greater 10 GigE density and/or 100 GigE interfaces for their edge and core platforms. They should stress their respective networking heritage and strengths, and leverage their capabilities to address Cisco’s new ASR 9000 metrics. All should stress their platforms’ unique abilities to meet the next generation requirements of their respective customers.

CLIENTS ONLY

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

| Client access - Full report in Carrier Infrastructure | More information

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