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Mobile World Congress Videos

Light Reading's Show Site: Barcelona, Spain  |  February 27 - March 1

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MWC 2011 Photos: Cisco Booth Tour

BARCELONA -- Mobile World Congress 2011 -- As everyone knows, Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) is not a traditional mobile technology company, but as the mobile operators migrate their networks toward all-IP architectures, and look to wireless LAN technologies (amongst others) for their data offload strategies, so Cisco is becoming more relevant. (See Reflections on Barcelona: Decision Time for 4G.)

Not only that, Cisco also now owns a leading mobile packet core platform following the acquisition of Starent. (See Cisco to Buy Starent for $2.9B.)

So we invited the router giant to be one of seven vendors we visited this year with our resident photographer. We gave them all just 10 minutes to talk about, and show off, the three products they felt were the most important/cutting-edge/game-changing, etc. (See MWC 2011 Photos: Ericsson Booth Tour, MWC 2011 Photos: NSN Booth Tour and MWC 2011 Photos: NEC Booth Tour.)

We turned up at the Cisco stand just as it suffered a power cut -- one of the stand staff quipped that it was a deliberate move as part of the company's environmentally friendly efforts -- but we had enough time to wait, and the lights came back on with plenty of time to still do the 10-minute tour.

Then we found that the prearranged Cisco guide was no longer available, and that another team member would be giving the Cisco case. Again, no problem for the Light Reading team -- the brief about our mission and the rules had been agreed in advance with the vendor's team (10 minutes, any three products of magnitude), so everything should be straightforward, right?

Well, you can find out in the picture captions below -- the final one shows how we (totally subjectively) graded Cisco's overall effort. This was Cisco's first year as part of our annual MWC vendor stand photo tours, so unlike the other participants there's no year-on-year comparison to make.

Click thumbnails for full-size image.

Figure 1: The Lights Are on at Cisco
After a short power cut that left Cisco's modest Hall 8 stand in the shadows, the lights were on again and we were ready for a 10-minute blitz.
Figure 2: Meeting the Team
As Light Reading's international editor (left) shuffles his business cards, Cisco PR Manager Ben Stricker (center), on his debut visit to the Mobile World Congress, introduces Jaishree Subramania (right), senior manager, Cisco Mobility Solutions, who was given the task of making Cisco's case for mobile industry glory.
Figure 3: Carrier-Grade Wi-Fi
With the clock ticking, Cisco introduced us to its Service Provider Wi-Fi Solution, which can be used for mobile data offload (in 2G, 3G and 4G deployments). Cisco believes this is the industry's first carrier-grade architecture because of its reliability and its hardiness.
Figure 4: Tough & Rugged
The 1550 outdoor Service Provider Wi-Fi 802.11n access point has been designed for extreme conditions, says Cisco, so it's one tough son-of-a-gun. There's also a Docsis version for cable operators. And it's shiny. What's not to like?
Figure 5: Not Just Tough, But Clever Too
It was time for Cisco's Subramania to dive a bit deeper and show off the smarts behind the tough new access point, as the 1550's back-office software enables seamless roaming and authentication of mobile users onto the Wi-Fi access point.
Figure 6: Connected to Cisco
Cisco's Subramania showed how mobile users can seamlessly roam onto the Wi-Fi access points using smartphones from Samsung, with which Cisco has been working on this development.
Figure 7: Thirsty Work
Cisco's Subramania reaches for the bottle (just water) as she explains how many current Wi-Fi hotspots involve insecure, unencrypted processes. The Cisco system, meanwhile is secure and behaves like a smart mobile network, as it can can track a subscriber's location, enabling a service provider to push appropriate new services.
Figure 8: Packet Core Chasm
We were well versed in Cisco's carrier-grade Wi-Fi then, but that was it! The 10 minutes were over, and the Cisco team seemed happy that the job was done. Were there no relevant advances in the company's evolved packet core (EPC) unit? It was on the stand, but not in Cisco's briefing.
Figure 9: No Laughing Matter
So Cisco's first effort was somewhat surprising, as we were shown what was essentially one product in the 10 minutes available, and not a mention of any packet core or IP routing developments that mobile service providers might be interested in. There was a brief mention of the company's MOVE (Monetization, Optimization, Videoscape Experience) marketing campaign, of which service provider Wi-Fi is one element, but no further details. Cisco Mobility Solutions Manager Subramania did her bit admirably, but we got the feeling she hadn't been briefed on the mission in hand. Overall, then, a disappointment, with minimal impact. Cisco gets a C- grade. Surely the only way is up from here?

All photos by Siqui Sánchez/Getty Images. He can't be held responsible for the captions, though.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading
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Official Mobile World Congress Site: www.mobileworldcongress.com