Cisco announced a new line of high-end routers

On March 3, Cisco Systems announced a new router model for phone companies and large businesses to handle Internet traffic more quickly. Cisco also said it has reached an agreement to provide a new generation network for Japanese phone service provider NTT.

Cisco ASR (Aggregation Services Router) 1000 is an upgraded product line of Cisco 7200, 7300, and 7500 router devices - used to redirect Web traffic at the end of the network.

Cisco says the new product has 160 times the performance of the Cisco 7200, and integrates many applications such as switches and packet inspection products to save space and costs for customers.

NTT plans to use the ASR 1000 to build its new Web-based video (IPTV) service. In addition to NTT, Cisco also revealed that Wachovia Bank also equipped ASR 1000 router.

Cisco had to invest $ 250 million over five years to develop the ASR 1000 router. The product will be available in April for $ 35,000, or more depending on the configuration.

Cisco's new announcement comes amid competition in the rising router market. Despite being the market leader, Cisco also faces fierce competition pressure from Juniper Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei Technologies.

Cisco CEO John Chambers earlier this month said orders from the US and Europe have declined, but he believes this is only a temporary trend.