Cisco said it would release a “next-generation” router that is twelve times faster than its old one.
The new CRS-3 product has been tested by AT&T (T) in a 100-Gigabit trial. Oddly enough, AT&T did not say how many of the new routers it would order. Perhaps none.
John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, said that the CRS-3 can handle one billion videos at a time. “Video is the killer app,” he said. “Video brings the Internet to life and lets us all participate in a very constructive way.”
Chambers forgot to ask how important a faster internet is or whether broadband providers will pay for it. Cisco claims that its router is the foundation of the next generation of the internet, but at $90,000 per unit, cable and telecom firms may not build the future as quickly as Cisco would like
The FCC has pushed faster internet speeds, but there is not a large body of evidence that most people and small businesses think of their internet connections as slow. Tens of millions of Americans are satisfied to spend most of their time online using bandwidth constrained 3G connected smartphones.
Cisco may have the tools for a new broadband foundation, but it may find that its enthusiasm about the initiative is not shared by broadband providers or users..
Douglas A. McIntyre
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