Cisco Systems, the US network equipment giant, announced on Thursday it has been chosen by China Railcom to conduct their second phase expansion of online network, the CRNet.
Following the expansion, CRNet will offer a 10G link connecting Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and 125 other Chinese cities, making it one of the world's largest broadband networks.
CRNet is a high-speed public Internet network, offering integrated services including dial-up and DDN access, as well as value-added services like VPN, IP voice and video conferencing.
Rick Justice, Cisco's senior vice-president of Worldwide Field Operations in Beijing, announced the deal and expressed his appreciation of China Railcom's vision in market expansion and network construction.
"When this second phase of expansion is completed, CRNet will, I believe, contribute to the development of China's broadband communications and market prosperity."
As data services continue to develop in China and become an increasingly necessary tool for both individuals and enterprises, telecom operators are looking to broadband networks to drive growth and revenue. Last year, Chinese data subscribers increased by more than 100 percent over the previous year, reaching a total of 33.22 million users.
The construction of broadband networks like CRNet will eliminate bottlenecks and allow operators to move ahead of subscriber growth.
CRNet's second phase network expansion will deploy Cisco's 12,400-Gigabyte routers. The project is expected to finish by the third quarter. Cooperation for the new phase of expansion is part of a long-term strategic partnership between Cisco and China Railcom.
(China Daily April 19, 2002)
