John Chambers

Executive Chairman, Cisco

Q. Are you for or against open networks and net neutrality? I’m a huge believer that the benefits of the network should be for all. I also believe that if companies build a network and can’t make profits, they will pull them out. So you’ve got to do both. A certain amount of capacity ought to be for the general good, as also for premium pricing. The last thing I want is talking to a doctor about a problem in my heart and the line dropping or the interface not working well when trying to do a business conference because a kid a row from me is playing a complex computer game. You’ve got to be able to pay for this. The end goal should be broadband for all, but the end goal should also be guaranteed services for those who want to pay a premium for it.

Q. While governments around the world want their networks to be visible to them, companies do not like that. Is there a middle ground? The little ground is that each society has to have their own view and control over what they want to do with their data. That is the responsibility of each country. Will Cisco provide any unique capability to any country? The answer is ‘No’. We will not do special development for anyone. If you do that you lose trust of the citizens.

Q. There’s mistrust in the Indian government about Chinese telecom equipment. Will you capitalise on it? Let me focus on the positives. Cisco is a very trusted telecommunication player not just in India, but in France, US, Russia and even in China. We will not give our code to anyone. And if we ever do it, we share it with everyone equally. That’s an important distinction versus our peers. Combine that with intelligence throughout the network and with an ecosystem, and focus on outcomes, and that’s a major competitive advantage for us.~