A few weeks back, I signed off from my old role and spoke of my transition into the big bet of mobility for Cisco.  I’m happy to say that I’m squarely in my new seat and thankfully, it’s one that my predecessors have done a tremendous job at.  The accelerated pace of investment and focus for Cisco in mobility is a major reason for my transition.  This is a role that is to spearhead a company wide marketing effort around a slew of compelling new technologies that will come to market over the next few months.  We have much to crow about at Cisco heading into MWC and I hope we’re able to credibly show our customers why Cisco is a transformational partner for their mobility needs.

The next few months will no doubt be filled with excitement but more importantly, the focus of my attention is to accelerate Cisco’s SP mobility offer  to address customers’ monetization and optimization challenges.  Starting this month our drum-beat begins.

Tags: mobility, murali nemani, Service Provider

Cisco has been going mobile in Canada.

Or, perhaps more accurately, Canadian mobile operators have been going for Cisco.  To wit:

In one example, Shaw Communications will deploy an extensive, advanced Wi-Fi network in Western Canada to provide broadband wireless access. The next-generation network will enable Shaw customers to connect Wi-Fi enabled devices like tablets, mobile phones and computers at thousands of Wi-Fi access points.

Shaw will deploy several advanced Cisco technologies, including the CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, ASR 5000 multimedia core platform, ASR 1000 Series routers and Service Provider Wi-Fi, part of Cisco’s M.O.VE architecture. 

Shaw Communications also announced that it will conduct a technical trial of HotSpot 2.0 in conjunction with Cisco, Shaw’s Wi-Fi technology partner.  HotSpot 2.0 will represent a significant improvement in Wi-Fi accessibility and security.

In addition, Bell Mobility has selected the Cisco ASR 5000 platform for delivering 4G and LTE mobile services in its next-generation wireless network.  The ASR 5000 will form the foundation of the packet core for Bell Mobility’s LTE network, delivering higher bandwidth and greater intelligence for faster mobile Internet services and improved user experiences.

Designated as a 4G mobile specification, LTE is designed to provide multi-megabit bandwidth, more efficient use of radio networks, latency reduction and improved mobility. LTE aims to enhance user interaction with the network and further drive demand for mobile multimedia services.

Tags: 4G, ASR_1000, ASR_5000, ASR_9000, Cisco, CRS, LTE, Mobile_Internet, mobility, operator, service_provider

Over the years, we’ve worked with many mobile operators around the world, and it is always very rewarding to work with those that are forward-looking and innovative. Portugal Telecom (PT) is very much one of these innovators. In developing and deploying new mobile services and the network architectures that enable them, PT has a rich history of success.

We had the opportunity last month to chat with Luis Alveirinho, Portugal Telecom Network Director, about how PT has designed its next-gen mobile network to deliver advanced business and consumer services with the highest levels of quality and reliability. Read More »

Tags: ASR 5000, Cisco, Evolved Packet Core, mobile internet, mobile packet core, mobility, Portugal Telecom, PT, Service Provider

Today, we’re featuring a guest post from Eric Schoch, senior director for hosted collaboration  in Cisco’s Collaboration organization. Eric is responsible for hosted and “as a service” solutions, strategic pricing and licensing, and business development.

There is simply no denying the increasing importance of being connected. Generation Y in particular, who grew up with mobile devices affixed almost permanently to their hands, views connectivity as one of life’s fundamental resources.

The newest addition to the workforce considers their mobile devices as an essential workplace tool to managing their workload and connecting with their colleagues on the go. While sitting in a meeting or having lunch in the break room, you can almost visualize the text bubbles hovering over crowds of this generation of workers as fingers hammer away at phones and tablets, eyes glued to the shiny screens in their hands. BYOD

But this trend goes far beyond lunch hours and happy hours. As proven by Chapter Two of the 2011 Cisco Connected World Technology Report, the next-generation workforce is demanding flexibility in their choice of devices in both the workplace and remote-work options, illustrating the importance of the Internet in workforce culture. Social media freedom, device flexibility, and work mobility, in the case of 30% of the study’s respondents, are more important when accepting a job than a higher salary.

Read More »

Tags: byod, Cisco, Cisco Connected World Technology Report, cloud, collaboration, collaboration summit, college, facebook, hosted collaboration, HR, millennials, mobility, newspapers, routing, security, survey, switching, tablet, twitter, unified communications, wireless, workforce, workspace

Hockey, bacon, and Neil Young – some of the best things in life do indeed come from Canada.  (Actually I think those of the swine persuasion may disagree on the bacon.)  Once again our neighbors to the north are leading the way with next-generation mobile broadband.

As announced yesterday,  Shaw Communications will conduct a technical trial of HotSpot 2.0 using Cisco’s Service Provider Wi-Fi solution. Read More »

Tags: Cisco, Hotspot, mobile broadband, mobile internet, mobility, Service Provider, Shaw, wi-fi