Juniper Networks, along with its systems integrator partner Siemens, are bringing broadband to Vietnam.
The companies have won a contract from state-owned Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT) to build the country’s first digital subscriber line network.
DSL technologies use sophisticated modulation schemes to pack data onto copper wires. In the United States, more homes use cable modems for high-speed Internet service (for a variety of reasons, including regulation). But DSL is dominant in other parts of the world.
Adam Judd, a Juniper vice president overseeing the Asia Pacific region, said the upgrade to high-speed network is attractivce for VNPT and others “looking for ways to leverage existing network infrastructure to create new service business models.”
The project will use Juniper’s E-series edge routers and SDX service deployment system to allow VNPT to quickly roll out new, premium services. The carrier will also use Juniper’s NMC-RX software to centrally manage the routers, line modules and ports.
Judd said the deal is the largest deployment of Juniper equipment in the Southeast Asian country. Financial terms were not disclosed.
According to the Telecommunications Industry Association, a nonprofit trade group, Vietnam is a major emerging market in the region, with an average network growth of 26.9 percent.
Internet adoption has been slow, however, TIA said. The first permanent international connection came in 1997. Since then, high fees and slow connections have limited subscribers to about 250,000, in a population of 80 million, the TIA said. The government is crafting policies to help the country catch up, the TIA said.
The announcement for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper comes days after another network equipment maker warned of a difficult quarter, in part because of weakness in the Asia-Pacific region.
San Jose-based Redback Networks said SAR-related “bans and restrictions on travel to the region, contribut(ed) significantly to the revenue shortfall.”