Cisco, Telindus Build Belgian MAN

BRUSSELS -- Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, and network integrator, Telindus, today announced that Telindus has signed an agreement with the Belgian National Research Network (BELNET) to build a new Metropolitan Area Network for the Belgian Federal Government built around Cisco networking technologies. The new network, called FedMAN, will connect 15 different buildings in Brussels, giving government staff joint broadband connection of 155 Mbps. The shared network means they will be able to communicate in a more efficient and secure way internally. It will also make it easier for the public to access government services and will save on administrative costs. BELNET, working with Telindus, a Cisco Gold Partner and Cisco partner of the year, plan to have installed the high-speed network by September. It will be able to serve up to 60,000 users. "We chose Cisco technology because of the excellent price-quality ratio and their wide product range for the entire infrastructure. It allows us to create a homogeneous and well-organised network," said Pierre Bruyhre, Director of BELNET. "Because our employees are familiar with Cisco equipment we are also saving a lot on training. If you add all these factors together you get a great total cost of ownership". Telindus Group NV Cisco Systems Inc.