The new R&D center, which Cisco says will be open in February 2005, will initially employ 10 people and focus on the continued development of Internet protocol (IP) and routing software products as well as advanced technologies like Ipv6, multicast and wireless.
The move is also intended to strengthen Cisco’s position in Japan’s burgeoning market for high-speed broadband access and help forge closer ties of large Japanese telco operators like Nippon Telegraph Corp and KDDI Corp.
Broadband access in Japan, which industry analysts say is growing at more than 500% per year, costs around a thirteenth of rates in the US. Japanese service provider networks are also purported to carry loads five times higher than US.
Cisco claims to control over 50% of Japan’s combined routing and switching market.
Cisco’s plans come on the heels of an announcement earlier in December that it is partnering with Japanese computer technology firm Fujitsu Ltd to sell high-end routers and other equipment to the local market.
San Jose, California-based Cisco also recently announced plans to open a research facility in China. It will now operate a total of six overseas R&D sites.
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