The Federal Trade Commission has begun an investigation into allegations that Cisco attempted to persuade Lucent and Nortel to share out the network market between the three of them. According to today's Washington Post, the FTC has written to Cisco demanding details about talks held this summer between the three companies, instigated by Cisco. However, Cisco VP Dan Sheinman told the Post he was confident that the FTC would find Cisco's discussions were legal -- he claimed the talks centred on building partnerships on the development and promotion of future networking standards. ® Click for more stories