Pacnet Expands into Vietnam

New Point-of-Presence (PoP) in Ho Chi Minh City will boost connectivity into the region’s top investment destination and the Indochina region

SINGAPORE, 15 JUNE 2009 – Pacnet today announced the launch of its firstPoP in Vietnam, enhancing network connectivity into the region’s topdestination for foreign investment.

“Vietnam continues to attract large foreign investments from countriesincluding China, US and Singapore, which will fuel stronger demand fornetwork connectivity in Vietnam. Our latest infrastructure expansion inVietnam reflects our confidence in its economy and will enable us tosupport the country’s growing bandwidth requirements,” said Bill Barney,Chief Executive Officer of Pacnet.

According to a recent report from the United Nations Conference of Tradeand Development (UNCTAD), Vietnam leads the Asia region for foreigndirect investment, with pledged capital tripling from US$20.3 billion in2007 to US$64 billion in 2008.

Along with its burgeoning economy, Vietnam’s international bandwidth isforecast to grow aggressively. Latest research from TeleGeography putsVietnam’s total international bandwidth usage in 2008 at 22.8 Gbps andthis is forecast to grow more than 13 times to 302.4 Gbps in 2013.

Along with its burgeoning economy, Vietnam’s international bandwidth isforecast to grow aggressively. Latest research from TeleGeography putsVietnam’s total international bandwidth usage in 2008 at 22.8 Gbps andthis is forecast to grow more than 13 times to 302.4 Gbps in 2013.

“Being the leading IP-based telecom operator in Vietnam, we recognizethe importance of cooperation with international telcos like Pacnet.These partnerships bring global end-to-end communications services underone roof, enabling our customers in Vietnam to enjoy both excellentservice quality with the convenience of a single point of contact. Weare pleased to be Pacnet’s key partner in Vietnam and look forward tostrengthening our partnership in the coming months as it expands itspresence in the region,” said Nguyen Dinh Hung, FPT Telecom ExecutiveVice President.

“As part of our strategic growth plans for the Indochina region, we arealready looking to expand our presence to other cities in Vietnam overthe next 12 months, and are also exploring landing our EAC-C2C subseacable in Vietnam to provide the country access to Asia’s highestcapacity subsea network,” said Mr Barney.

“With our series of data centers across the country that are equippedwith state-of-the-art technology and operated by our internationallyaccredited network operations team, we are confident that ourpartnership with Pacnet will enable us to meet the most demandingrequirements from our customers,” added Mr Nguyen.

With the new PoP in Vietnam, Pacnet is able to deliver its GlobalInternational Private Line Service, its industry-leading Global IP-VPNservice that offers five classes of service and usage-based pricing, aswell as offer data center facilities to businesses there. “Our customerswill enjoy the same high quality network services available in otherPacnet locations, to run their mission critical applications such as ERPapplications, and connect to their offices and partners around theworld,” said Wilfred Kwan, Chief Technology Officer of Pacnet.

“In the next few months, we will also be expanding our product suite toinclude our comprehensive range of IP and managed services to Vietnam,”added Mr Kwan.

“Our enhanced capabilities in Vietnam, coupled with our strong presencein Singapore, will allow us to support the growing number of Singaporecompanies trading with, and expanding into Vietnam, by providing them anintegrated solution for all their network and connectivity needs,” saidMr Barney. Singapore is one of Vietnam’s leading trading partners, withbilateral trade reaching US$12 billion in 2008, up 22 per cent from2007. It is also one of the top investors in Vietnam, with investmentsexceeding US$16 billion last year.

While Vietnam’s current broadband penetration rate is just under 3%, ithas almost doubled its broadband penetration since 2008 and has a hugepotential for future bandwidth growth. It is also an increasinglyattractive destination for offshore services, with Gartner ranking it asone of the top 10 locations for offshore services in the Asia Pacificregion.