Cisco unveils advanced edge router

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Monday unveiled a new router that helps phone companies and large businesses handle growing Internet traffic faster, and said it won a deal to supply Japanese phone provider NTT Corp's (9432.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) next-generation network.

The Cisco ASR (Aggregation Services Router) 1000 series is an upgrade to the network equipment maker's Cisco 7200, 7300, and 7500 edge routers already being used to direct Web traffic at the end of the network, often in contact with customers.

Cisco said the new product has 160 times the performance capability of the Cisco 7200 and comes with various appliances such as switch and deep-packet inspection products already embedded, saving customers space and costs.

NTT is set to use the ASR 1000 to build out its new Web-based video, or IPTV (Internet protocol television) service, Cisco said, adding that Wachovia Bank was also buying the new product.

IDC analyst Eve Griliches said the announcement was likely to be "the first of several announcements from Cisco in the edge router space."

The company said it invested $250 million (125 million pounds) over more than five years to develop the ASR 1000, which will be available in April and cost $35,000 or more depending on configurations.

The announcement comes amid increasing competition in the edge router market. Cisco is still the top player, but faces competition from Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL.

Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers said earlier this month that orders from U.S. and European customers had slowed down, but has said he expects the slowdown to be short-lived.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Richard Chang)

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