LONDON -- Cisco Systems® (Nasdaq:CSCO - News) today announced new certification requirements that will help businesses requiring resilient, high-speed connections for real-time applications to evaluate providers of managed Ethernet services. Providers must now have a plan to offer Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities in order to receive a "Cisco Powered Network" designation for Ethernet services. QoS certification verifies that the provider has committed to meeting Cisco-defined specifications and best-practice criteria for delivery of high-performance, low-latency connectivity services.

COLT First to Earn QoS Certification for Switched Ethernet Services

COLT is the first service provider in Europe to earn a Cisco Powered Network designation with QoS certification for its Switched Ethernet services. Available across Europe on a metro, national or international basis, COLT's managed Switched Ethernet services deliver any-to-any connectivity that is designed to allow prioritization of different types of services over dedicated fibre rings, backed by robust service level agreements (SLAs). This enables businesses to run different mission-critical applications across their corporate network, providing reliable, high-speed access to users across all offices. Built on the Cisco multiservice optical transport platform, COLT's Switched Ethernet services offer customers a high level of security through dedicated bandwidth per customer and service flexibility with "burstable" bandwidth features.

Speaking at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress in Berlin today, Alireza Mahmoodshahi, CTO of COLT said, "The new Cisco Powered Network QoS certification is a powerful endorsement of COLT's commitment to delivering innovative corporate networks which support mission-critical applications. It will give our customers the peace of mind they need in deploying business-sensitive applications across our managed Ethernet services.

"Providing customers with higher performance and more cost-effective networks is a core part of COLT's strategy -- and Ethernet is at the heart of this. The introduction of Switched Ethernet solutions and effective QoS capabilities are accelerating the appeal of Ethernet services to customers. We expect demand for these services to continue growing rapidly in the near future. With our industry-leading portfolio of services, COLT will remain at the forefront of these developments."

Cisco Systems Inc.