Routers play an important role as the Internets traffic cops, shunting packets of data to their destinations. Those placed at the Internets backbone - the main arteries for traffic - need the most capacity given the amount of data passing through. These machines are known as core routers, and Cisco competes in this market with Juniper Networks Inc., which has updated its products more recently than Cisco.
Cisco, the worlds largest maker of computer networking gear, said it is replacing its aging CRS-1 core router, which was introduced in 2004, with a model that is three times faster, the [...]

Cisco, the worlds largest computer networking equipment maker, said holders of 89 percent of Tandberg shares have agreed to the companys $30.32-per-share offer as of Thursday, when the bid expired following a two-day extension. That is just shy of the 90 percent threshold Cisco had set to complete the acquisition.
Cisco, based in San Jose, has struggled to gain shareholder approval of the deal. It sweetened the offer on Nov. 16 after its original bid of about $3 billion was approved by Tandbergs board but attracted less than 10 percent of the Norwegian companys shareholders.
When tendering the [...]

Under Norwegian law, Cisco needed more than 90 percent of the shares to gain complete control of Tandberg. Cisco plans to buy the remaining stock on the open market and acquire options or other contracts for Tandberg shares, said Terry Alberstein, a spokesman for San Jose, California-based company.
Tandberg, the second-biggest maker of videoconferencing equipment, would let Cisco offer lower-cost products in that market. Cisco sells telepresence systems — videoconferencing rooms with life-sized images of callers — which can cost $300,000. Lysaker, Norway-based Tandberg would give Cisco [...]

“The numbers are indicating us being in the early, initial phase of a recovery — with the U.S. leading the way,” Chambers said in an interview yesterday, following the release of Ciscos fiscal first-quarter results. “The numbers for U.S. enterprise orders were dramatic, going from a minus 20 percent order rate a quarter ago to plus 10 percent. Thats beyond a tipping point.”
Sales will grow 1 percent to 4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, Cisco said yesterday. That equates to at least [...]

SEB ABs SEB Enskilda unit in Norway canvassed shareholders and found that 21 owners wont sell “at the current offer terms,” according to a statement issued today by the bank. SEB was acting on behalf of clients, said Nils Kasper Lodden, the banks spokesman.
Cisco, the worlds largest maker of networking equipment, offered 153.50 kroner a share for Tandberg on Oct. 1 to expand in videoconferencing. The offer needs support from 90 percent of Tandbergs shareholders. The Norwegian companys board has recommended shareholders to accept the offer. [...]

Starent, of Tewksbury, Mass., makes equipment that allows carriers to tie their wireless networks to the Internet.
San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco is paying $35 per share in cash, a 21 percent premium to Mondays closing price of $29.03. Starents board has accepted the offer, and the parties expects the deal to close early next year.
Starent shares rose $4.87, nearly 17 percent, to $33.90 in Tuesday afternoon trading. The shares went public in 2007 at $12 per share, and hit an all-time low of $7.30 in November last year.
Cisco shares rose 7 cents to $23.85.
Cisco said it expects the deal to reduce [...]

Cisco is paying twice the value of the entire global annual market for videoconferencing equipment, at about $1.5 billion a year. But the fact that Tandberg is a Norwegian company allows Cisco to use an asset thats otherwise not very useful: the cash that has been piling up in its overseas subsidiaries.
Cisco, the worlds largest maker of computer networking equipment, had a cash balance of more than $35 billion at the end of July, most of that overseas. By buying an international company, Cisco is avoiding the U.S. taxes it would have to pay to bring the money home. The [...]

The majority of the cuts, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, were made at Ciscos San Jose headquarters Thursday, adding to the 447 California workers Cisco had already laid off since the end of February, according to notices filed with the state.
As of the end of April, Cisco employed about 66,560 people. The company would not say how many people it has laid off outside of California.
Cisco also would not say what groups have been affected. Some workers may find new jobs at the company. The rest will be offered severance packages and help finding [...]

Requiring U.S.-made parts would be “grossly inefficient” and a “radical departure” from normal markets, said Cisco, the largest maker of networking equipment. The comments were filed with the U.S. agency running the broadband initiative, part of the $787 billion stimulus package.
The rules may slow projects the stimulus was meant to spur because telecommunications networks contain parts from around the globe, the two equipment makers say. Congress, seeking to boost U.S. jobs, said funds provided under the law passed in February generally cant be used for iron, [...]

Dow Jones & Co. said Monday it would add Cisco Systems Inc., the worlds largest maker of computer networking hardware, to the 30-stock industrial average, replacing General Motors Corp. The change takes effect June 8.
The automotive giant filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. Meanwhile, Cisco has been weathering the recession without major layoffs, and has kept acquiring companies to expand its technology portfolio.
Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco rose 96 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $19.46 in midday trading. Investment funds that track the Dow Jones industrials are now forced to buy Cisco shares to match the index.
The addition of Cisco [...]