Cisco Makes Boxborough Head For New Division
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CISCO's former Boxborough campus
When cell phone users download data to browse the web or stream video, a separate network from the one used for traditional phone calls is needed.
Cisco, the California-based technology giant, is hoping to position itself as a leader in providing that network infrastructure for data communications. And, it’s chosen Massachusetts, and Boxborough specifically, as its hub.
The company announced that it will house its Mobile Internet Technology Group, a group encompassing almost 1,400 employees, in Boxborough. The group will focus on expanding Cisco’s market penetration into the mobile Internet infrastructure.
A major step forward for Cisco’s involvement in the data network infrastructure came in October 2009, when Cisco purchased Starent Networks Corp., a Tewksbury-based company of about 1,100 employees, for about $2.9 billion.
The company specializes in creating the network infrastructure to allow cell phones to download data.
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Ashraf Dahod, former CEO of Starent, now serves as a senior vice president and general manager for Cisco and will head the Mobile Internet Technology Group. Many employees will remain in Tewksbury, but some will be moved to Boxborough. Those employees will be combined with about 300 additional employees who already work for Cisco. Dahod said he expects the company to continue hiring in the coming months within the group.
The biggest advantage to being part of Cisco, Dahod said, is allowing the company to tap into Cisco’s broad range of technology capabilities.
Plus, he said, the marketing and sales force behind Cisco will allow the company to expand to clients around the world. Those include domestic cell phone providers such as Verizon and AT&T, but also other phone suppliers around the world.
“We now have an army selling our products. We’ll be able to reach many more customers,” Dahod said.
Dahod said Cisco’s decision to locate the MITG in Massachusetts cannot be understated.
Many times when companies are purchased by international corporations, the operations of the smaller company are headquartered out of corporate offices.
But Dahod said Cisco recognized the importance of the region’s human capital and chose to locate the MITG in Boxborough.
Ted Bissell, a managing consultant for PA Consulting Group in New York, said Cisco’s creation of the MITG is an indication of the coming demand for mobile technology.
“Cisco is such a huge company that starting a new group to focus on mobile Internet technology is likely a drop in the bucket,” he said. “But the potential for growth in this sector is enormous and Cisco will be right there in the middle of the game.”
Officials in Boxborough are hoping the company continues to grow and expand in the region.
Cisco occupies four buildings in Boxborough just off of Interstate 495, totaling about 725,000 square feet and housing more than 1,700 employees.
Boxborough Town Administrator Selina Shaw said the technology giant has been a generous corporate neighbor.
In the last decade the company has invested more than $300 million in the area, including paying for the reconstruction of the Route 111 Interstate 495 intersection.
“Cisco has been a wonderful company to have in town, not only for the local high-paying jobs they provide, but the ancillary benefits as well,” she said. “We’re thrilled to see them focusing on Boxborough as a point for starting new initiatives.”
For example, there is a Holiday Inn hotel near the campus and restaurants and shops get business from the company being located there.
Shaw said Boxborough, Littleton and Westford are also exploring designating the area a technology-focused growth district, which she hopes would attract more technology companies to the region.
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