Cisco edge routers for Telstra, capacity boosted

* Cisco Systems to supply edge routers to Telstra

* Cisco doubling density of flagship edge router

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Top U.S. network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) said on Tuesday it won a deal to supply edge routers to Telstra Corp (TLS.AX), Australia's biggest phone company, and that it was boosting the capacity of such routers to help customers more easily handle web video traffic.

Cisco said that it was doubling the density of its flagship edge router called ASR 9000 to allow customers -- particularly phone and Internet service providers -- to handle more online video and mobile Internet service without interruptions.

Edge routers are used at the peripheries of a service provider's network, closer to the end user. Such equipment can ease the strain on the overall network and help stream video more efficiently since, for example, cable service customers wouldn't need to reach into the core of the network each time they choose to download a movie online.

The company did not disclose the size and value of the Telstra deal. The ASR 9000 competes with similar products by Juniper Networks JNPR.O and Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA).

Suraj Shetty, Cisco's vice president in charge of worldwide service provider marketing, said the deal showed that Cisco was winning market share and that demand for such equipment was strong even though a weaker global economy was forcing some customers to run their networks "hotter" -- meaning closer to full capacity.

"IP traffic is growing so rapidly. It is autonomous from GDP," he said. "You can run it hot only for so long."

Cisco forecast global Internet traffic to increase fivefold from 2008 to 2013, and Shetty predicted that by the end of that period around 90 percent of all consumer Internet traffic will be video. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)