Cisco to launch low-cost products on broadband

Networking giant Cisco is set to launch low-cost platform for pushing education and healthcare services on broadband.

This is part of the US technology major’s strategy to use the Indian market as a sounding board for products aimed at emerging markets.

“We see India as a litmus test for our emerging market strategy. If we can be successful here, we can be successful anywhere,” Jeff White, the newly appointed head of Cisco’s India operations, told Business Line .

“My mandate is to drive innovation in India for the rest of the world. We want to develop products here that we can take to other emerging markets,” he said.

While Cisco has already developed two products including a set top box in India, the new broadband platform is aimed at bringing innovative technology at lower price points. Cisco nearly has 10,000 employees in India, mostly engineers working around cloud, mobility, video, software and services

White said that one of his focus areas would be to align Cisco with national agenda. It is eyeing opportunities in cyber security, broadband and large projects like the Aadhaar. “We want to help build ecosystem that brings technology and services into villages. We want to be seen as a transformational partner,” he said.

When asked if the proposed manufacturing policy was of concern, he said that free market principles should be allowed to govern investment decisions.

“Cisco has made investments in India till now based on free market principles and that should continue to be the motivating factor for making investments,” he said. Under the manufacturing policy, the Government wants to reserve 30 per cent of all procurement for companies which have local manufacturing units.

> thomas.thomas@thehindu.co.in

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