Cisco Systems submitted on Tuesday faster, more feature rich versions of their access routers hit in an attempt to fend off competition from rivals Juniper Networks and 3Com.
New Cisco 1800, 2800 and 3800 throughout the area network access routers feature embedded security measures and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), a method for making phone calls over the Internet unregulated, rather than the heavily regulated and taxed traditional phone network, said Mike Volpi, senior vice president and general manager of the Group of Cisco routing technology.
“These devices you just need to direct traffic, but that will not do it anymore,” said Volpi. “We must do more.”
This equipment is typically used by small to medium businesses or large companies with branches. The routers sit at the customer’s network and provide access to Internet and other wide area services. Most of these devices are sold by companies, what they offer to their customers as part of their data networks and Internet services.
Cisco dominates the U.S. $ 4 billion a year market for such equipment, claiming a 90 percent share of the market. But in the last six months, Cisco rival Juniper Networks and 3Com have made efforts to attack Cisco’s dominant participation, according to Joel Conover, principal analyst at Current Analysis.
“Cisco’s platforms today are old,” said Conover. “Now he faces a new threat, competition, and – appropriately – has been working on a new platform for two years.”
The 1800 U.S. expenditures $ 1,395, the 2800 is U.S. $ 1,995 and are available this month. The 3800, around U.S. $ 9,500, Began selling in October.