JAPAN TELECOM Deploys Cisco ROADM Technology

Cisco Systems, Inc. announced today that JAPAN TELECOM CO., Ltd. of the Softbank Group since December 2004, has successfully completed an upgrade of its Cisco ONS 15454-based dense wavelength division multiplexing optical networking solution using reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing (ROADM) technology that has simplified network maintenance and reduced installation time.

JAPAN TELECOM's ROADM deployment has been operating for more than three months. With this deployment, Cisco has now shipped more than 1,000 ROADM nodes to customers worldwide. According to Infonetics Research's Second Quarter 2005 Optical Network Hardware report, Cisco is the global leader in the ROADM market.

In addition, in its August 2005 report, research firm Current Analysis noted that Cisco was one of three vendors to achieve its top ranking among ROADM vendors.

Cisco ROADM is a part of Cisco's Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN), an architecture that enables service providers, such as JAPAN TELECOM, to migrate to an IP-based network.

By adopting Cisco IP NGN, service providers are able to deliver innovative new services to their end user customers in a more rapid, timely fashion. Also, service providers are able to improve their operational and capital expenditure efficiencies and advance the network and service control that they and their end-user customers need for long-term business success.

"We were successful in implementing ROADM technology in the same platform as the existing Cisco ONS15454 enabling constant provisioning of all wavelengths and simplified maintenance," said Junichi Miyakawa, Executive Vice President, Network Technology Unit, JAPAN TELECOM CO., LTD.

Cisco ROADM is an advanced networking technology bringing the same manageability as SONET/SDH to metro DWDM. ROADM enables service providers to add/drop and pass through all combinations of wavelengths using remote control without impacting the operation of other wavelengths.

Advantages of ROADM include simple operation, flexibility and reduced operating costs. It also enables service providers and cable multiservice providers to turn up a variety of services rapidly, such as Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

"Cisco's continued success in ROADM deployment further underscores the wide market adoption of our optical networking solutions by service providers and enterprises worldwide," said Rajiv Ramaswami, vice president and general manager of the Optical Networking Group at Cisco.