Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) has announced significant networking innovations at Mobile World Congress 2025, aimed at accelerating service provider growth in the age of artificial intelligence. The company unveiled its Agile Services Networking platform, designed to help service providers compete effectively in the evolving AI marketplace.
This new platform introduces two key innovations focused on enhancing network visibility and improving user experience:
- ThousandEyes Connected Devices: This feature extends network visibility across subscriber experiences, offering insights from home connections to off-network services.
- Provider Connectivity Assurance: Leveraging AI, this capability delivers enhanced ‘User Experience’ insights, optimizing mobile network performance.
The architecture combines the power of Silicon One routing, unified software, and converged IP and optics into a single, streamlined network.
Early adopters of the new Cisco Agile Services Networking, including Arelion, Lumen, and Reliance Jio, have already reported positive results. These include improved network performance, cost reductions, and an enhanced customer experience. Companies such as Virgin Media O2 and Odido are also leveraging the new assurance capabilities to improve customer satisfaction and optimize service delivery.
Cisco’s move is seen as a strategic response to the growing need for service providers to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market. By focusing on experience quality and proactive issue mitigation, Cisco is aiming to help its customers capture new revenue streams and strengthen their position in the telecommunications value chain. This commitment to AI integration positions Cisco to meet the evolving demands of the industry.
Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, highlighted the opportunities for service providers: “The pace of innovation in AI is astounding. Technical breakthroughs are just beginning to translate into new experiences for consumers and applications for businesses that will reshape how the world works and connects. This shift presents massive opportunities for service providers to grow their businesses and reduce costs by modernizing their infrastructure for AI. Cisco is perfectly positioned to help service providers monetize these new revenue streams, and our Agile Services Networking delivers the silicon, systems, and software innovation they need to thrive.”
Virgin Media O2 is already seeing the benefits. Gareth Lister, Director of Customer Products at Virgin Media O2, stated, “In an industry that’s fast consolidating around the same network type and service, we take pride in accelerating all the ways in which we deliver better service and more value to the millions of customers that rely on us. Virgin Media O2 has long been recognized for ultrafast speeds and now, with ThousandEyes Connected Devices powering our Smart Support service, we’re uniquely able to see and proactively measure our customers’ connection and experience in their home in real time.”
Odido is also enthusiastic about the technological improvements. Juan Alberto Brescoli, Head of Access Network at Odido Netherlands, commented, “At Odido, delivering an exceptional customer experience is our highest priority. Cisco’s Provider Connectivity Assurance User Experience application can provide deeper insights—into network throughput and latency and into real application performance. The ability to deploy the solution directly onto existing infrastructure eliminates the need for additional hardware or network reconfiguration, making implementation seamless. As demand for our Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) product continues to soar, having a precise, real-time understanding of user experience is more critical than ever.”
This announcement underscores Cisco’s ongoing commitment to providing innovative solutions and maintaining its leadership in the networking and security industries within the rapidly evolving landscape of AI.
