SAN JOSE, CA -- Cogent Communications, Inc., a next-generation optical ISP that offers unprecedented bandwidth for radically low, unmetered pricing, today announced it is the first Internet service provider to use the industry's Very Short Reach Optics (VSR) standard, VSR-1, for OC-192 connectivity. Across its network, Cogent will exclusively utilize the Cisco 12416 Internet Routers, reportedly the industry's premier platform for 10-gigabit routing. VSR accelerates deployments of OC-192 links in scaling Internet Points of Presence (POPs) by dramatically lowering connectivity costs by as much as 50% or more. As a result, Cogent is able to thrive in the market by delivering high-bandwidth, high-value services at a fraction of the cost of large carriers because of the innovative, standards-based VSR interconnection of routers, switches, optical cross-connects and DWDM systems. VSR is another cost savings measure in Cogent's radical pricing structure enabling customers to launch new services and enter new markets without making a large investment in IT services. Cogent has constructed a nationwide OC-192 backbone powered by Cisco's 12400 Internet Router family that delivers 10Gbps capacity for scaling networks to core optical speeds and provides the bandwidth for rich services such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and video. Cogent is in the process of increasing the capacity of its existing OC-192 network to 80 Gbps by lighting an additional 7 wavelengths across its backbone. "Innovation is a key differentiator for Cogent, it allows us to deliver the cutting-edge services our customers demand -- and with VSR we can guarantee non-oversubscription and outstanding price points even more efficiently than before," said Dave Schaeffer, CEO and founder of Cogent Communications. "Cisco's solutions were clearly the best fit for our requirements to offer unprecedented bandwidth and unprecedented prices to our customers. The Cisco 12400 family is the most scalable and highest performing system in the industry; the addition of VSR made the economics very compelling and enabled us to offer a unique value proposition to our customers." Cogent is able to offer low prices to customers because it uses its own Cisco-powered 17,400-mile fiber optic backbone and multiple metro area networks. Because it owns its backbone, Cogent is able to run an independent data-only network parallel to traditional voice networks at radical price points. As a facilities-based ISP, Cogent offers managed wavelength services, high speed Internet access, and transport between sites to business customers occupying large multi-tenant buildings and co-location centers, as well as to carriers and service providers. "The VSR protocol, a technology pioneered by Cisco Systems, is the first 10 Gbps SONET/SDH interface that provides a low-cost solution optimized for intra-POP interconnection (less than 300m) between routers, switches, and DWDM systems," said Rob Redford, vice president, marketing, for Cisco's Public Carrier IP Group. "VSR utilizes a low-cost, 12-element array of 850-nanometer lasers, each operating at 1.25 Gbps with parallel optic interconnect cable technology. This avoids the high cost of longer reach lasers, the single most expensive component in an OC-192 interface. The VSR-1 standard was approved by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) in January 2001. Cisco is the only router vendor that offers the significant advantage of VSR to customers today." The flagship Cisco 12000 series Internet routers are based on a unique distributed architecture that delivers the IP+Optical networking foundation and service building blocks to accelerate the evolution of the Internet. The Cisco 12400 family delivers the highest levels of scalability and performance available today. They are also the only systems capable of guaranteeing high priority packet delivery, which is critical to meet customers' increasing need for delivery of premium IP services. This innovative combination of features and capabilities make the Cisco 12400 family the premier platform for building true 10Gbps OC-192/STM-64 IP+Optical infrastructures. For more information visit www.cogentco.com or www.cisco.com