He added that relying on a sole provider for the platform made managing the network significantly easier. "We cannot afford the vendor interoperability problems that often arise when deploying solutions from mixed vendors," he said.

The key element in the network upgrade was a suite of Cisco 7301 routers which form the new BRAS (Broadband Remote Access Server) platform. The routers also feature the new NPE-G1 processor, which allows it to switch very high volumes of traffic while enabling IP QOS, advanced security features and Netflow accounting, he said.

The first stage of the upgrade, which took two months, is now complete. In the next stage, to be progressively deployed over the next 6-12 months, it will be deploying Cisco 7600 routers to replace its existing Cisco 7500 series routers. "This will provide further enhancements in scalability to accommodate forecasted growth," Rumsey said.