Duke: IPhone didn't cause power outages

RALEIGH, N.C. - A problem with Duke University's wireless network caused outages at the school, officials said Friday, exonerating the initial suspect, Apple Inc.'s new iPhone.

"A particular set of conditions made the Duke wireless network experience some minor and temporary disruptions in service," Duke spokeswoman Tracy Futhey said in a written statement posted on the university's Web site. "Those conditions involve our deployment of a very large Cisco-based wireless network that supports multiple network protocols."

San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco Inc. said it worked with Duke and Apple this week to identify the network issue that was causing the problem. Elizabeth McNichols, a Cisco spokeswoman, declined to be more specific, and officials at Duke did not immediately return a message seeking additional comment.

"Cisco has provided a fix that has been applied to Duke's network and the problem has not occurred since," the company said in a written statement.

The school's Wi-Fi wireless network had jammed nine times for spans of about 10 minutes, and a review of network traffic led Duke's technology team to iPhone users.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple released the iPhone, its first cell phone, at the end of June. The phones retail for $499 to $599 and combine cell phone capability with a media player and Wi-Fi access.

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