PARIS -- Cisco Systems® (Nasdaq:CSCO - News) today announced that Erenis, a service provider targeting the largest property management agents in Paris, is rolling out Ethernet-based broadband services to its social housing clients in several districts in metropolitan Paris. Erenis is implementing Cisco Long Reach Ethernet technology and Metro Ethernet Switching to provide innovative and cost-effective broadband services over a new local loop. This new broadband network will be available to approximately 30,000 households in the metropolitan Paris area this year. Customers will be able to benefit from similar upstream and downstream broadband speeds delivered over their existing telephone wiring.

Erenis is backed by the French National Agency for Innovation and the European investment fund Net Partners and will use Cisco Catalyst® 2950 Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) Series switches as one of the cornerstones of a network delivering an innovative low-cost service based on Very High-Bit Rate DSL (VDSL). Erenis already provides broadband access and traditional telephony services to its tenants over the same infrastructure.

Erenis launched in October 2002, has concluded a partnership with SAGI (Societe Anonyme de Gestion Immobiliere), which is one of the three largest landlords in Paris, owning around 35,000 households. Thanks to broadband technology provided by Cisco, the service provider is able to offer broadband access, alongside existing analogue telephony services, at speeds ranging from 15 Mbit/s with the possibility to expand up to 100 Mbit/s at cost-effective prices. To date, Erenis has already rolled out services to 5,000 households in the 12th, 15th, 17th and 20th districts of Paris and the suburb of Asnieres.

"Erenis wanted to respond to customers' expectations with high-quality Internet and telephone services at an affordable price -- and we are able to roll out these services swiftly with help from Cisco technology," said Frederic Boutissou, Chief Executive Officer of Erenis. "In addition, the new broadband local loop has helped us bring more simplicity to the relationship customers have with telecommunications service suppliers. Most of our customers used to receive three different bills for their fixed line services and did not have visibility of their overall spend. With Erenis there is only one invoice -- which can also help customer to control and reduce their montly costs."

Erenis uses the Long Reach Ethernet capabilities of the Cisco Catalyst 2950 LRE Series switch to provide Ethernet connections to customers over existing phone wiring, so it does not need to deploy fiber to end-user premises. The service provider is deploying its own broadband local loop and is working with different MAN operators for metropolitan connectivity.

"LRE technology is helping Erenis to provide a valuable service to large property management companies in Paris," commented Bernard Lamy, Metro Ethernet product marketing manager for Cisco in Europe, Middle East and Africa. "As a result, the company is increasing its market at a rate of 1,000 households every three weeks and engaging in promising talks with other large housing landlords controlling a total of 150,000 households across the French capital."

Cisco Systems Inc.