NTELOS Deploys Cisco CRS-1 to Support Converged Business and Residential Services Including Layer 2 and 3 VPNs and IPTV

Leading Eastern Regional Provider Expands Network and Service Portfolio with Cisco IP NGN

NXTComm 2007 - CHICAGO .- Cisco® today announced that NTELOS, an integrated communications provider with headquarters in Waynesboro, Va., is deploying the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1), the core component of the Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture, to facilitate growth of both residential and business services.

NTELOS provides products and services to customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and North Carolina. The company currently delivers an extensive portfolio of advanced residential and business services, including Layer 2 and 3 virtual private network (VPN) services, Ethernet over MPLS, voice over IP (VoIP) in addition to wireless phone service, broadband (high-speed Internet access) and local- and long-distance telephone services. The company has plans to launch an IPTV service in the near future.

“NTELOS is known for bringing new technology to our region swiftly, and IP is central to our service delivery,” said Frank Berry, vice president of wireline engineering and operations at NTELOS. “With our wide range of wireline services and our growing customer base, we need a core router that will support not only what we have, but what we will have, in terms of traffic types and volume growth, well into the future. The CRS-1 and IOS XR will help us ensure that we meet our customers’ wide range of needs now and well into the future.”

The NTELOS network is based on the Cisco IP NGN architecture, and includes Cisco 12000, 10000 and 7600 Series Routers, 3750 Metro Ethernet switches and Cisco 2400 Series Integrated Access Devices (IADs).

The Cisco CRS-1 is the industry’s only carrier routing system offering continuous system operation, unprecedented service flexibility, and system longevity. Powered by Cisco IOS XR Software, it is designed for always-on operation while scaling system capacity up to 92 Tbps. The CRS-1 marks a new era in carrier IP communications by powering the foundation for IP NGNs today while protecting investments for decades to come. The CRS-1 offers secure domain routers (SDRs) that can be dynamically and securely configured to dedicate router hardware and software resources to individual companies or specific service applications. This advancement enables service providers to converge applications onto common infrastructure, leveraging the capacity of the CRS-1 for applications like IPTV while keeping residential and business services isolated for security purposes.

“NTELOS is a standout among regional providers, having collapsed many of its service-specific networks onto IP and offering a broad range of residential and business services,” said Kelly Ahuja, vice president and general manager of the core routing business unit at Cisco. “It is exactly the type of provider that we designed the CRS-1 for, and we are eager to continue working with NTELOS to support its service and subscriber growth.”