Cisco deepened its ambitions in the Middle East with a pledge to pump $1.6 billion into the United Arab Emirates over the next five years, reports Triangle Business Journal. Cisco will also create 650 new jobs in the area by 2010, according to the report. It will open offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The news coincides with a spate of Cisc-related announcements coming out of the Middle East. The UAE’s new telecoms operator, du, says it is “exploring” the use of the “Cisco-enabled Virtual Service Provider model” to offer packaged services to small and midsize companies for voice, data and network security.
Recently, Cisco CEO John Chambers met with officials from Saudi Arabia’s five-million-square-meter smart city dubbed Knowledge Econonic City. Cisco will get a chunk of the $8 billion earmarked for the city by providing the network architecture. The buildings in KEC will be interconnected via IP allowing for centralized management and reduced operational costs, say city officials.
In November, Cisco said it plans to invest $268 million into Saudi Arabia over the next five years and has set up an initiative to develop and recruit local network consulting engineers.
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