Cisco buys Net access technology
Cisco has acquired Telesend, a developer of low-cost, high-speed Internet access technology.
Cisco today announced that it acquired the company on March 3, swapping an undisclosed amount of Cisco stock for all of the outstanding shares of Telesend, a privately held Cupertino, California-based firm.
Additional financial terms were not available. Cisco said Telesend's employees and managers, including chief executive Sayuri Sharper, will stay on at Cisco. Telesend's line of high-speed access products will be incorporated into Cisco's Wide Area Network (WAN) business, the company said.
Telesend develops a new telecommunications technology known as is Integrated Services Digital Network Digital Subscriber Line ( ISDN DSL, or IDSL for short). Its IDSL is a local-loop modem technology that allows phone companies to offer Internet access connections from central office switches to local customers at speeds of up to 128,000 bits per second, or about four times the speed of standard phone lines.
Cisco has lost no time revamping the Telesend offerings. The company today announced the first of its Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) products, based on Telesend technology. The Cisco 90i channel unit will be targeted at telecommunications carriers looking for hardware for delivering high-speed data services to small business owners, telecommuters and home Internet surfers. The Cisco 90i costs $995 and is an addition to existing Cisco networking gear.
Cisco has made 14 mainly technology-oriented acquisitions in the last three-and-a-half years, according to a company representative.
Officials of Telesend were not available for comment.
Kieran Taylor, an analyst at market research firm TeleChoice, said buying Telesend is a strategic move by Cisco to counter IDSL products announced a month and a half ago by rival equipment maker Ascend Communications.
Reuters contributed to this report