Cisco updates ASR 5500 series for 4G networks

Cisco today unveiled its latest ASR 5500 appliance to ease the impact of mobile devices on corporate networks.

The platform is designed to deploy in the network as a packet core solution to help not only with current data traffic, but also with the prospect of increasing pressure from Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G networks.

The ASR 5500 brings inline capabilities to make datacentre applications accessed by mobile devices react quicker to demand and become scalable – either up or down – for user needs.

It also enables businesses to set policies controlled by the software, making bring your own device (BYOD) deployments more secure for the firm’s network.

"With LTE deployments ramping up, many vendors have been talking up their mobile packet core expertise and preparing their next-gen platforms,” said Peter Jarich, service director at Current Analysis.

“Cisco's focus on elasticity, combined with the proven performance of its software and the scalability improvements of the Cisco ASR 5500 yield a compelling product that's commercially available today."          

As well as business users, the solution is also designed for service providers feeling the pressure of increasing mobile traffic on their networks.

Cisco has been working with Verizon in the US to test the solution and the company is pleased with its deployment.

Tom Sawanobori, vice-president of network planning at Verizon, said: “Verizon Wireless has been at the forefront of 4G LTE with the largest global deployment to date. Our tradition of innovation and leading advancements in mobility is supported through our relationship with Cisco.”

“The Cisco ASR 5500 platform will help serve our needs for scalability and agility in service deployment models addressing consumer and enterprise markets."

Despite its faith in the growth of mobile data, Cisco removed itself from the mobile hardware market last week when it announced it was pulling its Cius tablet.

The announcement was made in a blog post from the company’s senior vice-president of the telepresence technology group, OJ Winge, who is responsible for hardware and software products for Cisco’s collaboration portfolio.

“We’re seeing tremendous interest in software offerings,” he wrote. 

“Customers see the value in how these offerings enable employees to work on their terms in the post-PC era, while still having access to collaboration experiences.

“Based on these market transitions, Cisco will no longer invest in the Cisco Cius tablet form factor, and no further enhancements will be made to the current Cius endpoint beyond what’s available today.”