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Free (Iliad Group) Doubles Power of IPTV Network With Cisco Technology
Live Upgrade of Cisco Carrier Routing System Boosts Free Network Capacity to 2.5 Terabits per Second With No Interruption to Service
| Source: Cisco Systems, Inc.
PARIS--(Marketwire - September 6, 2007) - Cisco® (NASDAQ : CSCO ) announced today that Free
(Iliad Group), the leading triple-play over broadband operator in Europe,
has doubled the capacity of its Cisco-based IP Next-Generation Network (IP
NGN) in a drive to enhance the quality of experience for its more than 2.5
million subscribers. Less than a year after installing the first Cisco
CRS-1 carrier routing systems, Free has doubled the capacity of its core
network by upgrading its full 16-slot CRS-1 systems, with a potential
capacity of up to 1.2 terabits per second (Tbps), to a multi-chassis
configuration offering a capacity of up to 2.5 Tbps. The operation was
completed without any interruption to subscriber services.
With the recent announcements of TV Perso Freebox, Free's innovative
user-created TV channel service, and Free Home Video, a subscription-based
on-demand service for movies and TV series, as well as the rollout of a
nationwide fiber-to-the-home network, Free is expecting IP traffic
requirements to continue to double every 18 months.
Maxime Lombardini, chief executive officer of Free, said: "The ability to
keep our network in full production as we doubled our throughput is vital
for Free and our continued success. Cisco has given us the freedom to be
innovative, and at the same time maintaining the highest quality of
experience for all Free subscribers."
Thierry Drilhon, managing director of Cisco France and vice president of
Cisco Europe, added: "At a time when service providers like Free are
experiencing exponential growth in IP traffic, there is zero tolerance to
any process that impacts network performance. With the successful
in-service core network upgrade at Free and the recent excellent results
from the European tests of the Cisco end-to-end IPTV solutions, the CRS-1
carrier routing system's multicast performance capabilities and high
availability continue to prove its value to major operators throughout the
world."
The Cisco end-to-end IPTV and triple-play solution was recently analyzed in
an independent test at the European Advanced Networking Test Center
focusing on the network service requirements of broadcast TV and
video-on-demand (VOD) applications. The test covered four main areas: the
massive scalability of broadcast TV and VOD services; QOS (quality of
service) in an integrated business and residential customer network with
real-time video, voice and data service; high availability with sub-second
failover time for all of the services; and user experience of video
services under high network load and packet loss on the first mile. A full
copy of the report is available from Cisco at
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns610/networking_solutions_solution_category.html.
About Free
Free is a subsidiary of Iliad. The Iliad Group is a major player in the
Internet and telecommunications markets in France through its subsidiaries
Free (2,626,000 broadband subscribers as at 30/06/2007), Onetel and Iliad
Telecom (fixed telephony operators), as well as IFW (WiMax). The Iliad
Group is listed on the Euronext Paris Eurolist under the mnemonic code ILD.
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