Cisco Has Plan to Boost Internet Speed

SAN JOSE, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Cisco(CSCO) plans to announce next month new technology for communications service providers to offer more advanced, high-speed Internet connections, Reuters reports, citing a source familiar with the plan.

Cisco's plan comes as the Federal Communications Commission is set to demand faster Internet speeds as part of its National Broadband Plan to be unveiled on March 17.

Cisco, a maker of networking equipment such as routers and switches, said it would unveil technology on March 9 that will "forever change the Internet," Reuters reports. Cisco said on its Web site the change would show "what's possible when networking gets an adrenaline boost," Reuters says.

The sources told Reuters the new Cisco technology would help telecom service providers like phone companies offer better, high-speed Internet service.

The FCC wants minimum Internet data transmission speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 million homes within a decade, compared with current industry estimates of less than 4 Mbps, Reuters notes.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel in New York.

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