New CRS routing system claims to have 12 times the traffic capacity of its nearest rival.

As IT Brief reported last week, Cisco has made what it calls a major technology announcement in the form of the CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (pictured).

Cisco said the system was designed to be “the foundation of the next-generation internet” and be more than capable of handling the rapid growth of video transmissions. It has also invested US $1.6 billion into the range.

The CRS-3 “triples” the capacity of its predecessor (CRS-1) with up to 322 Terabits per second. Throwing a few bold statements into the announcement, Cisco said that, with the new system, the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress could be downloaded in just over one second and that every man, woman and child in China could make a video call - simultaneously.

Keith Cambron, president and CEO, AT&T Labs, said, “We are entering the next stage of global communication and entertainment services and applications, which requires a new set of advanced internet networking technologies. AT&T's network handled 40% more traffic in 2009 than it did in the previous year, and we continue to see this growth in 2010.”

Cisco Senior VP and General Manager, Service Provider Business, added, “The next generation internet is upon us and we are confident that the Cisco CRS-3 will play a crucial role as service providers like AT&T deliver an exciting, new array of video, mobile, data center and cloud services. The Cisco CRS-3 is well positioned to carry on the tradition of the Cisco CRS-1, become the flagship router of the future and serves as the foundation for the world's most intelligent and advanced broadband networks."

The CRS-3 will be available in the third quarter and prices start at NZ$128.000.