Siemens to connect almost 400 Vietnamese rural villages to the fixed network

The Siemens Communications Group has captured a major order for mobile communication technology from Vietnamese network operator Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT). The project will connect around 400 villages in remote regions of Vietnam to the fixed network over the next ten months using mobile communication technology.

The order for Siemens is the largest telecommunications project awarded so far by state-owned operator VNPT: ten provinces separated by a distance of more than 1,000 km are to gain full access to VNPT’s modern telecommunications network by the middle of next year.

Siemens delivers a wireless local loop (WLL) system – a GSM mobile communication technology – that connects individual homes in inaccessible rural locations to the fixed network using a wireless link. The difficulty of laying cable in the mountainous and jungle-clad terrain typical of the ten provinces concerned has previously kept village residents isolated from the telephone network.

“We hope that covering the ‘last mile’ to the villages using mobile communication technology will stimulate socio-economic development in the region. Siemens will assist us in this important undertaking with the same excellent support we have learned to rely on in previous projects,” explains Nguyen Ba Thuoc, Vice President of VNPT.

“We are very proud to have won this order, which will make a significant difference to large sections of the population of Vietnam. The telecommunications and IT sector in Vietnam has been developing rapidly in recent years, and we welcome this opportunity to keep the ball rolling with our own technology,” observes Christoph Caselitz, President Mobile Networks at Siemens Communications.

Siemens will equip the VNPT network with a complete WLL system, which it will hand over to the operator ready for use in summer 2006 once the mobile switching centers, GSM base stations and microwave systems have been installed.

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