ITALTEL AND CISCO EXTEND STRATEGIC
RELATIONSHIP TO DEVELOP NEW CONVERGED
SOLUTIONS IN EMEA AND LATIN AMERICA
The two companies further develop relationship to address business opportunities in the
Next Generation Network and Business Voice Services markets.
Milan, September 13, 2006 – Italtel, one of the leading companies providing solutions,
products and services for Next - Generation Networks (NGN) and Next - Generation
Services (NGS), and Cisco Systems announced today the signing of a new agreement to
extend their strategic technology and commercial alliance to 2008, with an expanded
market coverage beyond Europe, Middle East and Africa to include the Latin America
region.
Since signing the original strategic alliance agreement in early 2005, Italtel and Cisco
have worked together on joint technology solutions for service providers focused on
optimization of network infrastructures, multimedia communication services for the
consumer segment, and hosted and managed Unified Communication services for the
business segment.
Recent successful deployments include BT-Albacom, Belgacom, EITC (du) in the United
Arab Emirates, Telecom Italia and Telekomunikacja Polska, among others.
As part of the extended agreement, Italtel has identified a set of solutions to help service
providers deliver fixed-mobile converged services and embed intelligence in the network
to accelerate service creation and reduce operational costs.
The extension of the agreement to support the Latin American market resulted from
successful joint activities including implementation of VoIP infrastructure in Brazil and
Argentina for fixed and wireless service providers with the goal of optimizing and
expanding existing networks.
The Yankee Group expects the aggregate market for next generation network
infrastructure and services to grow worldwide from € 3.5 billion to € 6.7 billion, resulting
in a 24% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2005 and 2008. More
specifically, the prospects for growth within EMEA for NGN and NGS are very strong:
capital expenditures will show a 22% CAGR, growing from €833 million to € 1.5 billion,
according to the Yankee Group. Yankee Group research also shows that incumbent
operators in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile all indicate progress towards Next Generation IP/MPLS Network deployment, helping fuel demand of new systems. (Source:
Yankee Group February 2006).
“We’re extremely pleased to announce that Italtel and Cisco Systems have further
reinforced our strategic alliance,” comments Mauro Righetti, chief executive officer of
Italtel. “We’re fully satisfied with the results we have reached so far. The alliance has
allowed for the development of an offer that fully matches the requirements and
demands of the market, covering all aspects of the network,” continues Righetti. “Our
leadership in Softswitch technology and Cisco’s leadership in IP Next Generation
Networks (IP NGN) and IP communications are the best complementary conditions for
playing a crucial role in the new market, arising from the migration of existing voice
infrastructure to IP-based networks.”
“Through our work with major carriers across Europe, Cisco and Italtel have the
combined experience and expertise to help service providers to select the right
technology strategies to succeed in a dynamic and disruptive market,” said Geraint
Anderson, vice president of Service Providers in European markets at Cisco Systems.
“The extended relationship between our two companies will help operators gain a
competitive edge by accelerating next-generation network transformation and speeding
the delivery of innovative services.”
Massimo Migliuolo, vice president of Service Providers in Emerging Markets at Cisco
Systems added: “The Middle East and Latin America are regions where there is strong
growth and countless opportunities for operators who are moving into next-generation,
triple and quadruple-play services. Our joint, recent project for du in the United Arab
Emirates demonstrates our ability to bring proven solutions to new markets. Speed to
market is vital for our customers and the close cooperation between Cisco and Italtel
means we can deploy these solutions rapidly and effectively.”
The two companies will continue to cooperate on the development and marketing of joint
solutions based on the Italtel Softswitch and Cisco IP technologies. Italtel and Cisco joint
solutions include Multimedia carrier-class IP communications, Hosted and Managed
Unified Communication Services, Service and Network Control solution, IMS (IP
Multimedia Subsystem) solution, and Next Generation Operation Support System (NGOSS).
Telecom Italia successfully implemented the Cisco and Italtel solution to deploy hosted
and managed Unified Communications services. Several large enterprises, particularly in
the finance sector, have decided to deploy these services.
Strong demand is expected for hosted and managed Unified Communication Services in
the enterprise market as well as in the public sector over the next three years. Telecom
Italia is also considering the Cisco and Italtel joint solutions for the delivery and
management of innovative services and fixed and mobile convergence.
The Italtel and Cisco business voice solution will be available for a live demonstration at
the Broadband World Forum Europe held in Paris October 9 to 12, 2006.
***
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.
Information on Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com.
###
Cisco, Cisco Systems, Linksys and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco
Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks
mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Italtel Group
The Italtel Group designs, develops and installs solutions for new-generation integrated multiservice networks (voice/data/video), with cutting-edge products and a systems integration
capacity that offers fixed and mobile telecommunications operators and Internet Service
Providers, Large Companies and the Public Sector reliable infrastructures that are open to
networking and flexible in their technological evolution. Italtel’s revenues for 2005, as reported in
the consolidated financial statements approved by the General Shareholders’ meeting of February
27, 2006, totalled 545.8 million euros; the company today has around 2,300 employees. The
shareholders of Italtel Group S.p.A., are: CDRD Investment (Luxembourg) III S.a r.l., (48.77%),
Telecom Italia Finance S.A. (19.37%), Cisco Systems International B.V. (18.40%), Advent
Investment (Luxembourg) S.ar.l. (8.65%), Brera Italtel LLC (2.16%), Cordusio Società Fiduciaria
per Azioni – which holds in trust the shares of Group employees and Company directors in
addition to its own shares in the Company (2.65%). The Chief Executive Officer of Italtel is Mauro
Righetti. Website: www.italtel.com
For further information:
Cisco PR Contact
Simon Skinner
Phone: +44 20 8824 6256
Mobile: +44 7810 891 681
E-mail: siskinne@cisco.com
Italtel PR Contacts
Italtel Corporate Info
Laura Borlenghi
Phone: +39 02 4388 5275
Mobile: +39 335 769 4240
E-mail: laura.borlenghi@Italtel.it
Italtel Product Info
Marialuisa Cordone
Phone: +39 02 4388 3771
Mobile: +39 335 122 3740
E-mail: marialuisa.cordone@Italtel.it