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Bill Gartner

Senior Vice President/GM

Optical Systems & Optics

Bill Gartner is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Optical Systems and Optics business. In this role, he leads business strategy and development efforts for Cisco’s multibillion-dollar portfolio that includes Optical Systems, Optics, and next-generation architectures (e.g., Routed Optical Networking) that employ pluggable optics. Bill is known for his passion for technology and vision for groundbreaking solutions that help Service Providers and Webscale customers build world-class networks that maximize capacity, flexibility, scalability, and operational efficiencies – all integral to the Internet for the Future. Bill is also a champion of mentoring and career development of female leaders in technology. Throughout his career, Bill has earned a reputation for building trusted customer and business partnerships, with a focus on growth and innovation. Prior to joining Cisco, Bill was Chief Operating Officer of Meriton Networks (acquired by Xtera Networks). Before that, he served as President and COO of Mahi Networks and COO of Photuris. Previously, he was Vice President and General Manager of Lucent's Optical Networking Systems business, responsible for Metro, Access, and Long Haul DWDM products. His earlier tenure in the industry included roles at AT&T Bell Labs and Paradyne. Bill has served on the boards of OptronX (acquired by JDSU) and CyOptics. Bill holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, and an executive master’s degree in Technology Management from University of Pennsylvania/Wharton. He is a University of Pennsylvania Moore Fellow and holds three patents.

Articles

March 25, 2025

2

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Delivering Resilient Connectivity for AI

4 min read

Preparing for the AI era - Cisco is here with the technologies that will help hyperscalers and service providers navigate the journey.

September 18, 2024

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Routed Optical Networking Continues to Transform the Industry

3 min read

Learn why Cisco Routed Optical Networking has been deployed by more than 200 customers who have increased capacity, reduced energy consumption, and lowered network costs complexity, and footprint.

March 15, 2024

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Transforming the Economics of Superfast Broadband with Cisco Routed PON

4 min read

We are launching Cisco Routed PON, a disruptive solution that enables agile, differentiated broadband services through a software-defined network. Routed PON drastically improves the cost of broadband deployment in rural, suburban, and urban areas.

September 14, 2023

3

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Cisco Announces General Availability of the NCS 1014 and 2.4T WDM Line Card

2 min read

Sustainability, NCS, NCS 1014, 2.4T, 1.2T, 800G, optical, WDM, DWDM, routed optical networking, CIM 8, DSP, footprint, power reduction, ZR+ optics, QSFP-DD, QDD, PONC, Corning

March 7, 2023

2

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Cisco at OFC 2023: Announcing Successful Test with Sipartech to Deliver 400G Over 1,337 km

2 min read

Cisco and Neutral European infrastructure carrier, Sipartech, announce the successful trial deployment of a 400 Gigabits per second (400G) circuit using the Cisco NCS 5504 network convergence system together with the Cisco 400G ZR+ QSFP-DD high-power Bright optical module over 1,337 km.

March 6, 2023

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Cisco @ OFC – Bold Innovations to Power Your Future-Ready Network

2 min read

Cisco showcases bold innovations to power future-ready networks at OFC in San Diego, March 5-9. Join us to learn about our latest Routed Optical Networking feature sets, including PLE and automation; network as a Sensor; and our 400G and 800G Optics portfolio.

March 21, 2022

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Optics Are the Link to More Sustainable, Reliable Networks

3 min read

Optical connections transmit information in ways that fundamentally transform network architectures, and pluggable optics can increase your network’s capacity with maximum flexibility. No one knows better than Cisco how optics work in your network and optimize your network investments.

March 1, 2022

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Cisco Brings Innovation and Automation to OFC 2022

5 min read

Cisco will be live at OFC this year, showcasing its Network as a Sensor, Automation, client optics, pluggable coherent solutions, and Routed Optical Networking solutions

November 9, 2021

3

SP360: SERVICE PROVIDER

Routed Optical Networking – It’s About the Architecture

8 min read

Routed Optical Networking - This transformational architecture drives network optimization, accelerated time to service, and decreased total cost of ownership