On Wednesday, Cisco opened a Rural Broadband Innovation Center in Morrisville (NC), reported StateScoop. The facility will focus on technologies designed for cost-effective broadband expansion to close the digital divide.
According to CEO Chuck Robbins, small, rural providers will play a key role in ensuring equitable broadband access, so they need access to the latest solutions (including 5G) and information on implementing them. The Innovation Center is “a place where those providers could come and get hands-on experience with the technology that’s actually going to make it possible…to deliver some of this connectivity out into remote areas,” he added.
Cisco has committed $20 million to get the center off the ground, reported StateScoop. The company plans to showcase converged wireless and wired networks through the center, enabling ISPs to use existing cable lines, mobile cell towers, and other access points.
In addition to supporting rural broadband expansion, Cisco is working on artificial intelligence technology that can predict internet outages with 70 percent accuracy, according to Robbins. Besides providing standard infrastructure, he noted that Cisco is focusing “on delivering smart infrastructure…that can signal when there’s a potential problem.”
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