SAN JOSE, CA -- Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), a worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, and several of its industry partners are working in concert to accelerate the development of hardware, software and solutions that will benefit from the enhanced functionality of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). IPv6, as specified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), offers expanded IP addresses, integrated auto-configuration for plug-and-play capabilities, enhanced mobility, and end-to-end security. As announced earlier this year, Cisco has been delivering the industry's most comprehensive IPv6 network infrastructure through routers and switches running Cisco IOS(R) Software. Cisco's industry partners -- IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Sun and Motorola -- are implementing IPv6 in hardware, software and operating systems to enable business applications to run IPv6-enabled networks in support of growing customer adoption. Today, IPv6 appeals to early adopter customers in the wireless, gaming and home networking industries; the national research networks around the globe; and military and government bodies in the United States and abroad. Mobile, greenfield and regional Internet service providers are currently evaluating IPv6 products and platforms in preparation for commercial deployment, and IPv6 exchange points are being established worldwide for interconnecting those providers. "IPv6 is an emerging technology that will increase in significance as the demand for IP addresses grows," states Lawrence Orans, senior analyst, Gartner, Inc. "We anticipate that this demand will be strongest in the Asia-Pacific region, which owns far fewer registered IP addresses than does North America. As Internet-accessible wireless devices and Internet use in general grow in Asia-Pacific, service providers targeting that region will seek to build IPv6 backbone networks. Gartner expects that by 2006, 50% of all carriers in this region will have IPv6 running in some portion of their networks." "At this current stage of market development, the alignment of Cisco with its industry partners is key to driving IPv6 solutions to fruition," says Steve Steinhilber, vice president of Strategic Alliances, Cisco Systems. "As market requirements mature and adoption grows, Cisco will continue to deliver the broadest and most advanced IPv6 routing capabilities through its Cisco IOS software. Our efforts combined with those of our industry partners will ensure comprehensive IPv6 solutions for a variety of customers and markets." Industry Support Cisco and its industry partners are working on solutions to help customers reap the many benefits of IPv6 across a wide range of communications and computing platforms. From computer desktop to wireless Internet and backend systems, the marketplace will have quick access to IPv6-enabled solutions thanks to the current development underway: "As the Internet grows and companies integrate the World Wide Web into their business systems and transform their business models to take advantage of associated cost reduction and business partner value, industry standards such as IPv6 become essential," says David Chew, director of IBM Enterprise Transaction Systems. "By enabling IBM's operating systems, micro electronics, applications and middleware with IPv6 capabilities, customers should be able to lower administrative expense, provide enhanced security and reduce complexity, especially in managing wireless networks." "IPv6 continues the primary architectural principle that drove the success of the Internet," explains Jawad Khaki, vice-president of Windows Networking and Communications, Microsoft. "Microsoft will support IPv6 in our products and we laud the efforts of both the IPv6 Forum and Cisco Systems. With the explosion of the number of network devices on the Internet it is important that we enable our customers, partners and developers to take full advantage of the benefits IPv6." Mike Wardley, marketing manager of HP's Business Systems and Technology Organization, states, "IPv6 helps us meet the growing demand for IP addresses and enhanced functionality. With IPv6, our HP-UX11i server can support a large number of IP addresses and is easier to configure and manage via the auto-configuration feature. We've also added a dual IPv4 and IPv6 stack for backward compatibility with existing applications." "We view IPv6 as inevitable," says Andy Ingram, vice president of Solaris Marketing, Sun Microsystems. "We've implemented a dual stack IPv4-IPv6 architecture almost 18 months ago, in the first release of Solaris 8. With the dual-stack architecture, we can handle today's demand as well as the demands of the future, which includes substantial growth in the number of both users and devices accessing the Internet. Cisco's efforts in delivering IPv6 for the network infrastructure opens the way for widespread deployment of IPv6." "The rapid growth of the wireless Internet is resulting in an explosion of smart phones, smart automobiles, smart appliances, and smart buildings," says Al Zabarsky, corporate vice president and director of Corporate Strategy, Motorola Corp. "This tremendous growth in wireless devices has resulted in the clear need for a much larger number of IP addresses to support true end-to-end applications in the wireless space. IPv6 also will provide additional benefits for these new applications, including built-in support for quality of service, improved security, and the elimination of the need for network address translation -- all of which will eventually result in better applications and easier network management. Motorola recognizes the critical importance of IPv6 and our plan is to make optimum use of IPv6 in our overall systems architecture." For more information visit www.cisco.com